Tidbits
by NeolithicMonarch
Summary: A collection of my unfinished work, story ideas and anything in-between.  Some of it may get finished and some may not, this is just a place for all sorts of stuff my brain comes up with.
1. Intro

**Since I kinda have a case of writers block with Naruto the Last Alteran, I thought I would post a bunch of my unfinished stories that I may or may not get to completing. Most of these have been posted of FF(.) net at some point but have been taken off for some various reason. This will contain unfinished stories, story possibilities and stuff like that. Some of them are quite old so forgive me if they are written quite poorly.**

**Hope you enjoy.**


	2. Naruto Life Beyond Death NarutoBleach

**-Naruto Life Beyond Death-**

**My first Naruto/Bleach x-over that came before my current re-write. I'm actually really fond of this story and might decide to continue this sometime. The chapter markers might be mixed up a bit, it should be readable though.**

Darkness, emptiness, eternal sorrow. These were some of the things Naruto Namikaze felt as he drifted in an endless void. His spirit floating in the abyss, as he contemplated the actions which led to his predicament.

(Flashback)

Two shinobi stood facing each other, both ignoring the horrific scene of death and destruction before them as their comrades fought and died around them. They didn't blink or hesitate, they stood unmoving as the waited for the other to make their move

One wore a black cloak with red clouds adorning it, signifying he was a member of the criminal organization Akatsuki. The most striking thing however, was the presence of blood red eyes with three connected circles rotating around the pupil and three vertical lines connecting the circles to the outer edge of the eye, it was the cursed Ethereal Mangekyou Sharingan. He was none other than the founder of the Uchiha clan himself, Madara Uchiha.

The other was wearing the standard Konoha jounin uniform of a blue full body suit, which had a green flak jacket with a high collar over it and a Konoha forehead protector proudly displayed on his forehead. His hair was golden yellow and he had six wickers running down his cheeks, three on each side. If one was unaware, he could be identified as the Yondaime Hokage. For those who knew however, he was one of the strongest jounin of Konoha, the embodiment of the Will of Fire, and the Harbinger of change, he was none other than Namikaze Naruto.

"Madara" Naruto growled angrily "Do you have any idea how much damage you have caused, the lives you have cost?"

The man chuckled lightly "Of course I do" he replied, sneering "With the combined power of the bijuu, the world shall bow at my feet." he finished with mad laughter.

"You are sick" Naruto spat out "I won't let you do any more damage, Your ambitions end now!" he screamed as he charged into battle.

Touching a seal on his wrist, a katana about three feet long appeared in his hand. The handle was an orange leather with a glistening silver colored blade, but the most distinguishing thing was the guard, unlike the normal rectangular shape, his was a golden colored spiral. The sword was the only remnant he had of his mother, the last surviving heirloom of the Uzumaki clan that survived the Third Shinobi War. The blade was made out of super conductive chakra metal, which allowed it to channel ones chakra nature through the blade itself.

Naruto flung four kunai in a square formation around him and Madara.

"Ohh?" said Madara sneering "what do you expect that to do?"

Naruto on the other hand smirked. Approaching the Uchiha clan founder he lashed out with a lightning quick slice and with a sickening squelch an arm fell to the ground.

"Ahhh" screamed Madara as he gazed at his now bloody stump for a right arm. "How?" he said through gritted teeth "What did you to?"

Naruto smirk increased "You didn't think I would charge in without a strategy now would you?" he asked mockingly "Those seals on the kunai create a barrier which negates the effect of any space time jutsu, it seems it was wrong to place all your cards in one jutsu."

"That won't work" Madara snarled angrily "I am immortal, you will never kill me. The Mangekyou Sharigan, it is unbeatable"

_'Dammit' _Naruto thought frustratedly as fatigue began to set it _'Those cursed eyes need to be wiped out.'_

He remembered the battles that had occurred, as well as who he had to leave behind to fight. Kakashi and Sakura had stayed behind and fought Kisame. Gai and his team fought the missing nin from Grass Zetsu. Garra had left his siblings to fight with Konan while he and Tsunade were forced to engage Pain. As he continued to Madara, the one person he thought he would never see again showed up as a member of Akatsuki, Sasuke Uchiha. The battle was fierce, and in the end Naruto had won, but it had cost him most of his chakra and he was exhausted.

_'Everyone' _Naruto thought as he panted heavily. _'I had a feeling it might come to this, it seems to be a curse that Konoha cannot get rid of.'_

Resealing his sword Naruto formed nine quick hand signs and thought_ 'You think you can't die Madara, I'd like to see how you do without a soul.' _Shouting out "Shiki Fuujin" Naruto grabbed Madara by the shoulders held him place. "This ends now!" Naruto roared as a specter materialized behind him "As of today, the Uchiha clan will cease to exist." The figure was terrifying, it had purple skin, and had two large, red horns sticking out of its head.

Madara could only look in morbid fascination as the spectral figure stuck its arm through his opponents body. "W-What is that" he stuttered frightened.

Naruto smirked viciously and roared "This is the Shinigami, and today is the day your biggest fear comes to be, your death draws near." With a cry Naruto used the last bit of strength to rip the soul out of the Akatsuki leader. "Game over" he whispered as he slowly fell to the ground, 'Stay safe everyone' was his final thought before everything went black.

(End Flashback)

_'Man, this is boring' _was the central thought running through his head as he floated in blackness for what seemed like years._ 'I would have thought death would have been a little more entertaining.'_

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted in his stomach and some of the blackness near Naruto rippled as a swirling shape took figure. "What the" Naruto managed to spit out as he was pulled into the spiraling abyss.

(Mindspace)

"What happened" Naruto muttered as he saw himself in from of a huge cage with a large piece of paper reading "Seal" hold the two gates together.

**"YOU IDIOT"** roared a booming demonic voice.

Looking up Naruto saw himself staring into two, red, slitted demonic eyes. "Kyuubi" Naruto stated "What happened." Over the years Naruto and the Kyuubi had come to an understanding. Due to its overly intense chakra, Naruto would never be able to fully utilize its power like the other Jinchuuriki, but now at least the two could live with each other without trying to rip their throats out.

**"You are the most idiotic person I have ever seen"** the fox roared **"How could you even think of using the Shiki Fuujin, you already have one such seal on your body."**

"What?" Naruto asked bewildered "I don't get it, what's wrong. All I remember is blackness."

**"Of course you numskull"** roared Kyuubi again **"The Shinigami is the one who made the seal that binds me here, thus some of its power is present in it, and when you used the Shiki Fuujin again you created a paradox. The Shinigami's energy was warring with the seal itself for dominance. One tried to steal your soul and the other tried to keep both yours and my soul intact and bound together. Since they were both born from the same being neither could win, thus you were stuck between life and the Shinigami's stomach. I was able to push some of my power through, but that forced the power from the Shiki Fuujin that you just used out, and caused the very fabric of space and time to collapse onto the one being in its presence, namely you."**

Naruto blinked rapidly "What?" he asked sheepishly as he scratched his head "I didn't get any of that."

The Kyuubi sighed heavily and replied **"Okay, to make things short so someone of your intelligence level can understand, you were weak and used Shiki Fuujin. The seal and the incoming energy fought for dominance. Then I regretfully saved your life and now you are going flying into a new dimension."**

"How is that possible" Naruto said "Different dimensions, your kidding right."

**"Of course not"** said Kyuubi angrily **"You totally underestimate the power held by both myself and the Shinigami, it is beyond anything a mere human can fathom."**

"Okay, Okay" said Naruto defensively. "So" he trailed off "Where am I?"

**"No idea"** Kyuubi replied blandly.

"What?" Naruto cried "How do you have no idea as to where we are?"

Kyuubi's sighed deeply **"Simple brat, do you have any idea of how many realities there are? All I know is that your physical body is dead, but your soul itself seems to still live on attached to Earth, a very interesting thing if you ask me. There are also a huge number of people on this ****planet, far more than the population in your world. This world also has a form of personal energy as well, it seems to rely in on the strength of the soul rather than the brutal mental and physical work needed to obtain chakra like in the elemental countries. From what I can determine you are in a state of being which precedes life but is before true death."**

"That is interesting.." Naruto mused as he asked asked "So, do I have this soul energy?"

The fox snorted and explained **"Of course, like I said its a kind of personal energy, so as to not cause a global imbalance by having a foreign energy in the world, all of your chakra had been converted to this spirit energy."**

"Really now" Naruto mused "So is there anything else you know that can be of use?"

Just as Kyuubi was about to answer, a voice filled the area and his mindscape changed from the wet sewer to a peaceful grassland with a gentle breeze.___**"I believe I can help"**_ came a disembodied, female voice.

Naruto looked around wildly "Who are you, and where am I" he yelled out.

A figure began to materialize in front of him and to Naruto she was one of the most beautiful figures he had ever laid his eyes on. She had a truly angelic face with dark blue hair which hung down to her lower neck. She wore a light blue dress with golden spirals on it and she seemed to flicker with the wind. All in all, beautiful was the only word Naruto could think of that could describe her. (A/N: Yeah I know, the description sucks, but I am unable to describe people well, so bear with it please, its not like it really matters anyway.)

"Who are you" Naruto asked frantically as his eyes darted around trying to take in the scene in front of him.

The women laughed, a soft musical laugh which seemed to lift Naruto's spirit by merely hearing it. _**"My name is Kamikaze"**_ she replied _**"I am the embodiment of your soul, the manifestation of your resolve, I am your zanpakuto."**_

"Kamikaze?" Naruto questioned.

_**"Oh"**_ Kamikaze replied surprised _**"You actually heard me? Normally it takes years to even be able to talk you ones zanpakuto spirit, but you were even to hear my name."**_ she finished sounding impressed.

"What is a zanpakuto?" Naruto asked "And how come I have never heard of you before if you really are part of my soul."

_**"Ahhh"**_ Kamikaze replied whimsically _**"A zanpakuto is the weapon used by a shinigami, unlike your world, shinigami are numerous here and the wield power similar to those of shinobi. A zanpakuto manifests itself as a sword and each had a unique power which is discovered by knowing the name of your sword. As for your other question, I was created from your soul when you entered this world, I know all that you do, as well as the needed information of this world, as to how, I do not know."**_

"I see" Naruto responded "So,what do these shinigami do actually."

_**"Their main job is to protect souls and send them to what they call soul society, which seems to be an bridge between life and death. They also combat creatures called Hollows. These Hollows are created when a soul stays in the human world to long and is eventually corrupted by the evilness all humans posses." **_replied Kamikaze _**"And now"**_ she continued _**"It is your time to go." **_With those words of parting, Naruto's mindscape faded into nothingness.

(End Mindscape)

Naruto sat up with a start and found himself lying on the ground somewhere in a forest. He looked down and saw himself wearing an interesting outfit. It was a black kimono and hakama with a sword identical to the one he used in life strapped vertically on his back like it was before he came up with his wrist seals. _'What the hell is this' _he thought.

_**'It is called a shihakusho, and it is the uniform of the shinigami' **_came the voice of the being he was in contact with just moments ago.

_'Kamikaze, is that you?'_ Naruto thought back.

_**'Of course it is'**_ came the reply along with a snort _'Who else would it be.'_

Before Naruto could retort he was interrupted by his senses going haywire as it picked up an immense amount of energy. _'What is that'_ he thought worriedly.

_**'It is a Meno's Grande, they form when hundreds of smaller hollows gather and form into a new being. While it is extremely powerful, its intelligence leaves much to be desired.' **_came Kamikaze's reply.

_'I should be fine' _thought Naruto thought confidently as the Meno's emerged from the sky, its huge figure with large white mask looming over Naruto_ 'I'll just use some jutsu and take it out at long range.'_

_**'That won't work'**_replied Kamikaze bluntly '_**You no longer have a physical aspect to you energy, rendering most of you jutsu unusable.'**_

_'What!'_ Naruto mentally screamed as he started to panic _'Then how am I suppose to beat this thing, its way to big to take on at close range.'_

_**'Calm down' **_said Kamikaze soothingly _**'Did you forget about me? I am your partner in battle, when we fight, we are one. That is the power of a zanpakuto. I am only as powerful as your will, your resolve is mine and together we form an unstoppable force.'**_

_'Okay' _thought Naruto as he calmed down slightly _'You said to unlock the true power of my sword I need to know its name, since I know yours, what do I need to do.'_

Kamikaze giggled slightly _'__**So you were listening when I told you about zanpakuto's, listen to my voice, and I will guide you in the right direction. Open up your senses and let me in.'**_

The Meno's opened its mouth and a red ball of light formed.

_**'You better hurry too' **_said Kamikaze _**'That is a Cero, you probably won't survive if you are hit by it.'**_

Naruto nodded, closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the ball of light was released from the Meno's mouth and expanded into a beam. Seconds seemed like hours as the beam approached him. Right as impact seemed inevitable Naruto snapped his eyes opened, held his blade in front of him and shouted.

"Spiral out of existence, Kamikaze"

The power of the Cero exploded outwards as winds whipped around Naruto's body. His zanpakuto hadn't changed much, the blade was still about three feet long and had widened by a couple of inches, but the most distinguishing thing was presence of spiraling wind surrounding the blade giving it a light blue glow. Like the blade, the hilt and guard had remained largely unchanged except for a two foot long, sky blue ribbon attached to the end of the hilt which seemed to flutter with an invisible wind.

Acting on instinct Naruto swung the blade down and watched in awe as explosion of wind erupted from his blade which hit the Meno's and left a deep scar.

_'What the hell was that' _Naruto thought wide eyed as he saw the Meno's stumble back and retreat to where ever it had come from.

_**'It's the first technique of your zanpakuto'**_ replied Kamikaze _**'It focuses wind to the blade and then releases it to create a solid line of destructive wind. Its name is Windcutter'**_

_'First' _Naruto replied surprised _'It has more than one?'_

_**'Yes, However they can only be learned with time and by training with me.' **_Kamikaze replied _**'There is a shinigami nearing**_' she said abruptly _**'Do not tell them about crossing worlds, the amount of energy required for such a feat is immense and will just cause to many questions to be asked.'**_

Before Naruto could respond, he was interrupted by the sound of a person clearing their throat nearby. Turning around, he saw another shinigami with his sword attached to his side. He was wearing a similar outfit as himself with a strange armband fixed to his left arm and had a barely shielded look of shock on his face.

"Hello" the figure said "My name is Kaien Shiba, and I'm the vice-captain of the 13th division. I was sent to investigate a massive influx of reiatsu in the area, and it seems I have found it."

While he seemed calm on the outside, mentally Kaien's mind was racing. _'Who is he? First we read a powerful spiritual being enter the area, then a Meno's appears and now I arrive to find him to already have shinigami powers. Not only that, but he has already managed to unlock shikai, that should take years, even decades to accomplish.'_ "Who are you?" he blurted out before thinking. Once he realized how that sounded he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said "I mean, I would like to know your name."

"I'm Naruto Namikaze, I assume your a shinigami." he inquired.

"Err...Yeah" Kaien replied surprised "How did you know?"

"Kamikaze told me about you" Naruto replied as he gazed at his sword, which had returned to its original state, fondly.

"How did you gain shinigami powers?" Kaien asked "Its not impossible for one to forge their zanpakuto through pure spiritual power, but normally they are forged with reiatsu imbued metal which slowly adapt to ones soul."

"I don't know" Naruto replied nonchalantly "It happened when I died, does it matter?"

"Yes it matters" Kaien said exasperatedly "It should take years in school and then years in the field to do what you just accomplished. You must have experience in contacting your inner spirit in order to accomplish that."

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and said "Don't ask me, its not something I can control."

"Okay, Okay" responded Kaien pinching the bridge of his nose "This is such a headache" he muttered under his breath "I just wanted to get a little action, maybe fight a Meno's and then konso the soul but no... something like this had to pop up." Tapping his foot on the ground and narrowing his eyebrows, Kaien finally spoke after several seconds of deep thought. "Okay" he said "I will take you to Captain Ukitake, he should know what to do." Nodding to himself at his brilliant idea he drew is sword and swiped it in the air. Two Japanese style doors materialized in mid air and parted to reveal an walkway. "Come on" he said, motioning over his shoulder to the doors as he began to walk toward them.

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Naruto followed after him and found himself gazing into an amazing sight. What he saw was a large city, surrounded by a tall white gate with large outlying settlements. The city inside the walls was obviously better kept and in the center on a tall cliff was a large white tower. Before he could fully take in the sight, he found himself in front of a gate with the number 13 on it.

"Surprised eh? said Kaien chuckling "When you enter this place your are able to see a aerial view of Soul Society while your directed to the place you intended to enter. Welcome to Seireitei, the court of pure souls, home of the shinigami.

Chapter II: Welcome to Seireitei

"Welcome to the Thirteen Division" a boisterous voice rang out. Naruto had followed Kaien through the gates and found himself in a peaceful courtyard with buildings encircling it. "Over there" said Kaien pointing the left "Is the barracks, thats where all of the unseated and lower seated officers live." Now gesturing to the right he said "And that is where the top ten seated officers live, the conditions get nicer as your rank goes up, the left wing of the building is reserved for the captions personal quarters." Finally, pointing to ahead he informed "And directly ahead is the main administrative building, although it also houses the cafeteria, training centers, you name it."

As Kaien was rambling Naruto took a closer look at the buildings. The barracks to the left was nothing special. It looked like a ordinary, large apartment building that was in decent repair. The housing the the right was defiantly more lavish, instead of an ordinary looking apartment building, this resembled a moderately upscale hotel. 'Though' Naruto mused 'He did say that the top ten seats live here. So that would mean that the ten most powerful and influential figures in this division would live there.' Shaking himself out of these thoughts, Naruto then examined the last building. If one were to describe the structure, the word huge would fit. The administrative building dwarfed the other two by several orders of magnitude. The building itself looked rather like a Japanese castle which appeared to be four or five stories tall.

"...Then we will meet with Captain Ukitake, understand?" Kaien finished.

"Ummm...Yeah" Naruto said chuckling nervously. 'Crap, I have no idea what he just said' he thought.

"Good" exclaimed Kaien cheerfully, "Then follow me, Captain Ukitake should be in his office today."

Walking ahead, Naruto noticed that there were quite a few other shinigami walking about. They all gave Kaien an enthusiastic greeting and flocked over to them.

"Good morning Vice-captain"

"Hello Kaien"

"How are you Vice-captain Shiba?"

"I see your well liked" Naruto remarked dryly as they were mobbed by members of the Thirteenth Division.

"Hehe" Kaien said sheepishly as he tried to return the greetings "Well you know, I'm just awesome like that, so it's only natural that everyone likes me."

"Sure" Naruto replied, slightly sarcastically "So, are we going to go meet this captain of yours?"

"Of course" Kaien responded, and with a sweep of his arm he said "Sorry everyone, but I need to go meet Captain Ukitake"

The crowd parted, but not before giving Naruto a few spiteful looks.

"What's his problem?"

"Who does he think he is?"

"He must be bothering Vice-Captain Kaien."

Naruto sweat dropped as he heard the mutterings and saw the angry glances he was receiving. 'Jeez, what's their problem'

A giggling sound broke him out of his musings 'Wow Naruto, you sure have make a lot of friends'

'Kamikaze?' Naruto thought 'Is that you again.'

'Of course silly' Kamikaze replied with a small snort 'Who else besides that fox could it be?'

'Speaking of Kyuubi' Naruto mused 'How come I haven't heard from him lately.'

'Oh that' Kamikaze responded a bit hesitantly 'There seems to be a small problem with your mind scape.'

'Problem?' Naruto thought back a bit worried 'Nothing bad right?"

'Of course not' replied Kamikaze, reassuringly 'You see, when you gained your Shinigami powers, your current mind scape overlapped the one where the fox is housed, thus cutting you off from him. Now this will have no derogatory effect on you, but it make contact with the fox impossible until he can find a way to materialize into your new mind scape.'

'Err..How long will that take.' Naruto asked 'it would be nice to be able talk to him about this... situation."

'I'm not sure' Kamikaze replied after a moments thought. 'But don't worry, I'm here for you to talk if you need help' she finished cheerfully.

'Ummm...Great' Naruto responded, half heartily.

'Naruto' Kamikaze whined 'Don't be like that, I know what i'm talking about.'

"Hello" a voice rang out, taking Naruto out of his internal argument. Kaien was waving a hand in front of Naruto's face "Are ya commin?" he asked roughly "You're the one who's in the hurry, so lets go." he finished taking off to the building.

'Ahh great' Naruto thought depressed 'I annoyed him too.'

"Hey" Naruto called out as he ran after Kaien's back.

"What?" replied Kaien, facing him, eyebrows raised.

"Look" Naruto started slowly, choosing his words carefully "I'm sorry if I've been a little rude lately. I guess i'm just a little confused."

Kaien's features softened slightly, "Errr, yeah" he trailed off "I guess i'm sorry too, I guess I forgot you died recently." he finished chuckling weakly. "So" he said after a couple of seconds "We should go see Captain Ukitake, he should know what to do."

"Okay" Naruto said, slightly more cheerfully "So why do I need to meet with him anyways?"

Kaien nearly chocked on absolutely nothing "Why?" he asked startled "Kid, I don't think you realize what you just did."

"I dont?" Naruto asked bewildered "I gained shinigami powers right, given the size of the compounds here, there must be hundreds here in Seireitei right?"

"Yeah" Kaien said "But they go to an academy for six years, plus they have probably spent decades in the outer districts before even attending the academy. Not only that, but you actually managed to manifest your zanpakuto and unlock shikai, that should take years."

"I see" Naruto said slowly "So why does it take years to unlock shikai" he asked.

"You really don't get it, do you" Kaien asked with a bland look on his face "Not only does it require an immense amount of mental concentration, shikai also takes a fair amount of power. Because of this, only about the top ten seated officers in each division have reached that level. You see, when you graduate from the academy you receive a Asauchi, which is a nameless zanpakuto that most use, then as your power grows some are able to manifest a full zanpakuto and unlock shikai." he explained exasperatingly. "You on the other hand" he continued "Gained shinigami powers, manifested your zanpakuto and achived shikai all in one go. And added to that is the fact that your zanpakuto was powerful enough to injure a Meno's Grande."

"If you put it like that" Naruto trailed off, thoughtful look on his face "I guess i'm just awesome like that" he finished cheekily.

"Sure" Kaien replied skeptically "Come on" he said as they reached the administrative building "Captains Ukitake's office is just to the right."

Walking into the building, and taking the first door to the right, Naruto saw a man with a white haori sitting at a desk doing some paperwork. The man looked about six feet tall with white hair, which ran down to his upper back. His face held kind features which immediately set Naruto more at ease. "Ahh.." he began with a smile "Hello Kaien, how are you, and who is this?" he asked.

"Captain Ukitake" Kaien said respectfully, standing a little straighter "This is Naruto Namikaze, a recent deceased soul who has somehow acquired shinigami powers."

"Oh" Ukitake said, slightly surprised, "Is that so, anything else?" he asked.

"Yes" replied Kaien more slowly "He has also demonstrated the ability to use shikai and a powerful one at that."

"What" asked Ukitake astonished. Studying him closer now, Naruto nearly squirmed under the mans piercing gaze. "Hmmm" the man hummed to himself while in thought. "You'll have to go to the academy" he finally concluded. "If you truly are as talented as my Vice-Captain says, you should be able to breeze right through." Pushing a button on his desk, two people immediately came running into his office.

They were an interesting pair to put it lightly. The first as a man who had black hair which spiked out in three directions with a rope tied around his forehead and a scowl on his face. The other person was female was was significantly shorter with short, blond hair and wore white gloves.

"Hello captain" the both greet exuberantly.

They looked at each other and growled.

"I get to greet the captain first" the blond haired one yelled.

"No, I do" the other remarked "After all, he likes me best."

"Does not"

"Does to"

"Does not"

"You two, shut up" Kaien barked out, his fingers in his ears.

"Sentaro, Kiyone" Ukitake greeted with a nod "Please take this young man to the academy and get all the paperwork sorted out." he said pointing at Naruto.

"Yes captain" they replied enthusiastically.

The blond women latched onto Naruto's arm and started to drag him off out of the office.

"What are you doing Kiyone" the black haired man shouted "Stop touching him with your vile hands."

The blond, now identified as Kiyone's right eye twitched "Shut your mouth Sentaro, its not like he would want an ape like you showing him around." Turning to Naruto she smiled and said "Hello, My name is Kiyone Kotetsu and I am the third seat of the Thirteenth Division." she said, ignoring the scream of "What" coming from here companion "And that loser" she continued pointing at the not gaping man beside here "is Sentaro."

"Don't listen to here" screamed Sentaro as he pushed Kiyone away from Naruto "She is nothing but a liar. I am Sentaro, the real third seat, second only to Captain Ukitake and Vice-Captain Shiba."

"Ummm...hello" said Naruto a bit nervously "I'm Naruto Namikaze." 'Those two are crazy' he thought.

"Well" Kiyone said growing slightly more serious, which considering their earlier actions didn't say much "We need to get you to the academy, so come on." And before Naruto could say otherwise, both had grabbed one of his arms and started to drag him away.

As he saw Naruto being dragged away Ukitake chuckled "Those two" he mused humorously. "So" he said, humor replaced with seriousness "What do you know about him." he asked "I couldn't sense much excess energy leaking from him, so he must either have good control of his energy or not much to begin with."

"He must have great control, which is intriguing" Kaien said, frowning slightly "his shikai was very impressive, he was able to deeply scar a Meno's Grande with an attack and he should only get more powerful as he trains. Not only that" Kaien trailed off "His movements are guarded, he moves like he is always anticipating an attack. As i'm sure you saw, he was never fully at ease and was prepared to flee if necessary. It all points to him being some sort of fighter in life, instincts are something which cannot be faked or forgotten"

"Good analysis" Ukitake remarked, impressed "If you were to guess, what level do you think he's at?"

"Hmmm" Kaien hummed "Strictly from what I saw, he would be at the level of a fifth seat at least, but I have a feeling that he is hiding a lot of his abilities." he concluded.

"I see" Ukitake trailed off "It seems that I will have to keep a close eye on him, another prodigy lately eh? First you, then there's that Gin kid and now this Naruto."

"Yeah" Kaien replied, deep in thought "things should be getting interesting around here."

-(Across Seireitei)-

Totally oblivious to the conversation between the commanding officers of the Thirteen Division, Naruto was in front of a door with a simple 212 on it reading what looked like a pamphlet.

Kiyone and Sentaro had enrolled him into the academy without any issue, such are the perks of being third seats. After having to fill out some forms with sone general personal information, Naruto received a fairly large pamphlet which detailed Seireitei and the role of Shinigami and the things that would be learned at the academy.

The academy taught the basics of all shinigami arts. Kido was the usage of reiatsu to produce effects which would seem impossible. All in all it seemed rather like ninjutsu to Naruto. Hakuda which was simply martial art practice, simple compared to all of the taijutsu Naruto knew. Then there was Hoho which seemed focus on speed, once again not a problem with all of the trained Naruto did in life. In the Hoho section Naruto did find somthing interesting however, the shunpo, which seemed to be nearly identical to the advanced Shunshin created by his father and later master by himself. Finally the last art was Zanjutsu, or swordsmanship, of course Naruto knew his sword like the back of his hand. So this, like all the other fields, would be a piece of cake.

It also seemed that Seireitei was more complex than he had originally thought. Shinigami were organized into 13 divisions called the Gotei 13. Each division had a specialized role and were led by a powerful captain.

The First Division were the elite, the best of the best in all fields. They were the elite force and were under the direct command of the General of the Gotei 13 himself.

The Second Division was one that interested Naruto, also part of the special forces squad, the second division specialized in stealth and assassination, A similar occupation to his previous job.

The Third Division was also an interesting one. It seemed that they specialized in unique and underhanded tactics.

The Fourth Division was one Naruto knew he would be well acquainted with. They were the medics of the Gotei 13, but Naruto frowned slightly when he read that they had nearly no combat capabilities. 'Seems like they're being underestimated, I know first hand what a medic can do' he thought, shivering slightly at the thought of Sakura's and Tsunade's monstrous strength.

The Fifth Division was one that used Kido to agument all of their other abilities. Even their zanpakuto normally manifested with kido in mind."

The Sixth Division seemed to be reserved for nobility, Naruto snorted in disgust as he read this. Just who were nobles to think they needed an entire division to themselves anyway?

The Seventh Division seem to work on the idea of direct confrontation with deadly efficiency. They seemed to favor brute force over any type of finesse.

The Eighth Division was reserved for those who preferred artistic and elegant ways of fighting.

The Ninth Division was similar to the Fifth. They used a fair amount of Kido, but they also incorporated a bit of Zanjutsu into their fighting style.

The Tenth Division seemed to specialize in espionage and mid to long rang combat with their zanpakuto.

The Eleven Division was purely combat orientated. They totally threw tactics out the window, and had the most blood lust of all of the Thirteen Divisions.

The Twelfth Division were the ones responsible for coming up with new technology. For the most part they tried to stay away from combat, so most of their battle strategies were unknown.

The division Naruto had just some from, the Thirteenth seemed to be the police force of Seireitei. Out of all thirteen division, they were the most balanced, not really favoring any art over another.

"The role of a shinigami was one which keeps balance in the world" Naruto read "When souls are left to long on the mortal plane, their chain of fate beings to erode, and if left unchecked it will fully degrade and the soul will turn into a heartless monster we know as a hollow. These hollow have minimal intelligence and just live on instinct alone. The role of the shinigami is the slay hollows and guide unspoiled souls into Soul Society. Without shinigami, the hollows would reign supreme and the world would fall into darkness"

'Huh' Naruto mused 'It seems that the shinigami have more of an impact then one would think.'

"Okay" he muttered to himself as he stood in front of the door "I guess this is it, a new start with a new life. I hope my roommate is decent."

Opening the door and walking in, Naruto saw what one might expect from a dorm room. There were two beds with a nightstand separating them with two desks on the opposite wall with a modest sized closet and another door on the other size of the room which Naruto guessed led to a bathroom.

"Who are you" a voice asked.

Turning around slightly Naruto saw a person standing in the door way.

"Ohh..." said Naruto sheepisly "I'm Naruto Namikaze, I guess I'm your new roommate"

The person in the doorway smirked slightly and replied "Hi, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya"

Chapter III: Welcome To The Academy

Naruto examined the person in front of him. He had white spikey hair with brilliant green eyes and had a sword on his back. The sword looked about four feet long with a four pointed star as the guard. The most distinguishing thing about him however was his height, or rather lack of it because he stood at only around four feet.

'Holy crap, he's short' Naruto thought, sweat dropping.

'Thats not very nice Naruto' Kamikaze admonished 'After all, you used to be that height after all'

'Well yeah, but I...' Naruto struggled, unable to come up with a retort.

"So..." Naruto trailed off, trying to forget his annoyance with Kamikaze. "Why did you want to become a shinigami" he asked.

Toshiro's eyes glazed over for a second and gained a slightly sad look, "Appently I was leaking a lot of reiatsu into the surrounding area and it was having err.. negative effects on the people around me."

Naruto, seeing his reluctance to explain any further decided to change the subject "So are you excited for the academy to start tomarrow, I know I am."

Toshiro's eyes lit up when this question was asked "Yeah" he replied "My best friend became a shinigami a while ago, and since I got here before the semester started, the teachers gave me some early lessons." he finished, absentmindedly rubbing the hilt of his sword.

Noticing this, Naruto pointed at the sword in question and asked "Is that your zanpakuto?"

"Yeah" Toshiro replied, gazing at the sword fondly "This is Hyorinmaru, the instructors seemed really surprised, apparently it is rare for one to manifest one and I managed to get shikai a few days ago as well." he said obviously proud. Looking closely, he noticed the sword attached to Naruto's back "Hey, is that your zanpakuto too?" he asked, excitedly.

"Yeah" Naruto replied "This is Kamikaze, we'll have to have a spar" he said with a challenging glint in his eyes.

"Sure" Toshiro replied with a smirk "There's a training ground outside that the teachers said I could use."

Naruto's smirk now mirrored Toshiro's. "Well then, lead the way."

-(Outside the Academy)-

Naruto and Toshiro stood facing each other across the training field. The field wasn't anything special, just mainly an empty field with several long in the ground on the outer edge, but it was enough for this spar.

"So, are you ready, shorty" asked Naruto mockingly.

Toshiro's eyebrow started to twitch violently "Don't call me that" he screamed as reiatsu exploded off him.

'I think you made him mad Natuto' Kamikaze said, blandly 'Way to go.'

'Opps' Naruto thought back, slightly nervously, 'Toshiro is emitting a lot of reiatsu, maybe that wasn't one of my best ideas.'

The shout of "Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru" broke Naruto out of his internal musings.

Toshiro's sword lengthened slightly and had a long chain coming out of the hilt with a crescent blade attach to that. The most distinguishing thing however, was the huge head of an ice dragon with red glowing eyes which seemed to be controlled by the blade.

'Okay' Naruto said to himself 'Note to self, Toshiro is sensitive to his height.'

"Spiral out of existence, Kamikaze" Naruto shouted in response as his blade transformed into its shikai form.

'Ready Kamikaze?' Naruto asked, excitedly.

'Yeah' Kamikaze replied gleefully 'Lets kick some butt!'

'I wonder if this will work' Naruto thought as a thought ran through his head 'Here goes nothing.'

Focusing reiatsu to his legs Naruto took a step and disappeared from view.

'What' thought Toshiro franticly as he searched for his opponent, 'Where did he go, that looked like shunpo, but that move should only be possible for high level seated officers.

Appearing right in front of Toshiro, Naruto gave him a punch to the stomach which sent him flying several feet back.

'So I was right' Naruto thought victoriously 'reiatsu can be used internally just like chakra, the mechanics of shunshin and shunpo are identical, Hoho should be a piece of cake.'

"Whats wrong?" Naruto asked with a vicious smirk "You were so confident a little while ago."

"Shut up" Toshiro said irritably, trying to regain his breath 'Shoot' he thought 'For a second, he completely vanished from my line of sight, I can't compete with that level of speed.'

With a flick of his wrist, Toshiro sent the ice dragon careening towards Naruto.

Naruto smirked as he flickered to a new position "You'll have to do better than that if you plan on beating me" he said "With an attack that slow, you have no chance of hitting me."

Toshiro smirked and replied "Who said I was aiming for you?"

Naruto eyes widened as ice began to form at his feet, holding him down "What?" he asked astonished.

"You thought that by seeing my zanpakuto once, you knew what it did" Toshiro explained "Instead of aiming for you, I went for the ground and now you are in a position where I can hit you." With a slash of his sword the ice dragon headed straight at Naruto "Don't worry, I won't put enough power into this for it to seriously injure you."

As the dragon closed in on him Naurto smirked and raised his swung his sword vertically and a long line of wind came into existence and cut the dragon straight through.

"What?" Toshiro said, astonished "How did you do that?"

"I seems like I underestimated you" Naruto said with a nod towards his opponent "I congratulate you on fighting with me for this long, but" he paused as the ice surrounding his feet shattered as he channeled reiastu through them "Unfortunately, its not enough." With another burst of speed, Naruto appeared behind and knocked Toshiro out with a quick blow to the head.

"You lose" was all Toshiro heard as he fell into blissful unconsciousness.

-(Somewhere else)-

Toshiro groaned as he regained consciousness. 'Where am I?' he wondered. Looking around he found himself in a bed in what appeared to be his dorm room.

Memories started to come back to him as he recalled the events which led to his predicament.

'Thats right' the thought gloomily, remembering his humiliating defeat 'I lost terribly.'

'Keep your head up' A voice resonated in his head 'You did fine.'

'But Hyorinmaru' Toshiro argued 'He totally dominated the fight, I've even got extra lessons.'

'And like I said' Hyorinmaru argued back 'You did fine, When you face a superior opponent you have to get stronger then them. Train with me, and next time we won't lose.'

"So your up" a voice he recolonized spoke out, breaking him out of his internal debate.

Looking up, Toshiro saw a sight which made him sweat drop. Naruto was sitting on his bed with several empty bowls of ramen in from of him, inhaling several more. Another thing he noticed was that he had changed into the required uniform the students.

"Isn't that over doing it" Toshiro asked with a deadpanned look "After all, ramen isn't very good for you."

"WHAT!" Naruto shouted, pointing his finger at Toshiro he said accusingly "How dare you say such things, ramen is a holy gift given to us mortals from the gods."

"Sure" Toshiro said unconvinced 'And he beat me' he asked himself, mentally sweat dropping.

As he was thinking this, Toshiro's stomach began to rumble. Scratching the back of his head a little he sheepishly said "I guess I'm a little hungry."

"Well what do want me to do about it?" asked Naruto, taking another bite of ramen "After all, your the one who said that Ramer was unhealthy and you inferred that it was untasteful too."

"Come on" Toshiro argued "Just one bowl."

Naruto hummed under his breath in contemplation "Okay" he finally said "If you repent and saw that ramen is indeed food of the gods, you can have a bowl."

Toshiro's eye twitched "Fine" he ground out through gritted teeth "Ramen is the food of the gods passed down so we mortals could savor its taste."

"There" Naruto said cheerfully "Now was that so hard, now you can bask in the wondrous sensation known as ramen" he finished with exuberance, eyes glistening with tears of joy.

"Great" Toshiro muttered sarcastically, taking a bite of the offered ramen. 'Its not bad, but I dont know why he seems to attached to it.'

Finishing his food, Toshiro gave a content sign and asked "So, how long was I out."

"Lets see.." Naruto trailed off, tapping his finger to his chin "Class starts in 10 minutes." he finally said.

"WHAT!" Toshiro yelled "How could I be out for a full day." He screamed at Naruto.

"Well ya see" Naruto explained sheepishly "I seemed to have hit a pressure point in your next, and it seems it took a little while longer than I expected for you recover."

"Why didn't you wake he up" He exploded at Naruto.

"I was, but then I found out the cafeteria serves ramen and then..." Naruto trailed off slightly embarrassed.

By now Toshiro looked ready to explode "You got sidetracked by RAMEN of all things?"

"Yup, it was really good too." Naruto said cheerfully "Anyway, you better get ready, class starts in a few minutes."

"SHOOT" Toshiro shouted as he rushed out of bed and changed his clothes in record time. "Lets go" he said as he reached the door, fully prepared for the coming day.

As they entered the classroom they saw about thirty other students sitting at desks.

"Ahhh It appears our last two students have arrived" A voice said from the front of the room. The figure was female, and dressed in the standard shinigmai uniform. She looked about 18 or so and had black hair with round glasses. "Greetings" she said to the room as Naruto and Toshiro took the remaining seats "Congratulations on being admitted to the shinigami academy and good luck in the future. I am Nanao Ise, third seat of the Eight Division, and I will be your teacher for the next couple of years." she finished her introductions and turned to a chalk board next to her "Now shinigami are..."

-(One Year Later)-

One year had passed since their first day at the shinigami academy and both Naruto and Toshiro were hailed as prodigies the likes have which had never been seen before. After the first week, all of the captains had heard of them. After all, how do you not notice to students who have already materialized their zanpakuto? In only one year they had completed their full six years worth of curriculum. To Naruto, what was taught was mere child's play, having spent nearly a decade as a shinobi the shinigami techniques were already like second nature. The only thing that was really difficult was replacing hand signs with incantations in kido and even then once he got the hang of that it was simple.

"Hey Toshiro" Naruto said to his roommate. They had become close friends over the year. Naruto, while always first in class, pushed Toshiro to his limits in everything he did.

"Yeah" Toshiro responded. Over the course of the year Toshiro had gained a few inched and now stood at more formidable height of four-five.

"You better not hold back tomorrow" Naruto said with a smirk.

Toshiro gained a smirk which mirror Naruto's "Don't worry, I won't" he said confidently "After all, we never did have that rematch from a year ago did we?" he asked.

Naruto chuckled slightly "We never did, huh? This year has flown by."

As the next day came around two figures stood facing each other in a large arena filled to the brim with shinigami from varies divisions.

Because they had gone through the academy so fast, many shinigami who were frightened that they would lose their positions to these "prodigies" demanded that they fight each other to prove their skills.

In the center of the two figures stood Nanao Ise, who had been promoted to the Vice Captaincy of the Eighth Division earlier in the year.

"The match between Naruto Namikaze and Toshiro Hitsugaya...BEGIN" and as she shouted this she sunpoed out of the arena next to her captain.

As soon as she finished saying "begin" both Naruto and Toshiro flickered out of existence and met in the middle, swords connecting with each other, creating a shock wave of power.

This seemingly simple action stirred chaos in the stands. Cries of "SHUNPO!" and "How can they preform such a high level technique?" rang through the stands.

"You've gotten faster" Naruto commented with a smirk.

"Oh" Toshiro replied with a small smile "Are you sure you just haven't gotten slower."

"Watch it shorty" Naruto insulted back, only to have to duck back quickly as a sword passed over his head.

Gathering himself quickly, Naruto attempted a stab forward only for Toshiro to shunpo backwards.

Not leaving him alone for a second, Naruto shunpoed forward quickly and tried to slash at his stomach, only to meet the resistance of his opponents sword.

Both expelled a tremendous amount of reiatsu which blinded the spectators and send dirt flying everywhere.

When the dust settled, the crowd could see both Naruto and Toshiro standing in the original position, facing each other with impassive faces.

"It seems we are evenly matched" Naruto remarked, injuries notably absent from his figure.

"Indeed" Toshiro replied, he too with no viable injuries. "We'll have to take this up a notch."

As this was said, the captains, who had their own private box, were talking amongst themselves.

"Well aren't those two impressive, eh Jushiro" said a man wearing a flowered, pink haori, he was the Eight Division captain, Shunsui Kyoraku.

"Indeed they are Shunsui" replied the thirteen division captain. "They have a bright future ahead of them"

"Take it up a notch" muttered Nanao, who was standing beside the Eighth Division captain "Are they..?" she asked, leaving the question in the air.

"It seems so" Shunsui replied in a rare bout of seriousness "They really are something eh?"

Back on the battlefield, both Naruto and Toshiro were practicably glowing with spiritual energy. Then, as if practiced, they both called out their respective shikai's at the same moment.

"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru"

"Spiral Out of Existence, Kamikaze"

Both figures erupted with reiatsu, once again kicking up dirt and blinding the spectators.

Both now stood wielding the respective shikais. Naruto with his three foot long sword, which was slightly longer than its sealed state, with wind spiraling around the blade and a light blue ribbon attached to the end of the hilt. Toshiro with his slightly lengthened sword with long chain coming out of the hilt with a crescent blade attach to that with a huge ice dragon circling around him, poised to strike.

"Remember" Toshiro said, breaking the deafening silence in the arena, the spectators being shocked into silence "I won't lose this time" he roared as he send the ice dragon at Naruto at high speed.

Naruto's eye's widened at the speed of the dragon 'He's been practicing' he thought as he brought down his sword in a vertical slash, stopping the dragon for a moment. His eyes narrowed at his as he sunpoed away 'That completely split that dragon last time.'

"I see your surprised" Toshiro said with a vicious smirk "I've been working hard since out last spar, and I intend to win!" he yelled as he the dragon continued on its path toward him.

"You should know" Naruto said as the dragon approach him "That I have been training to." Pointing his sword at the dragon and Toshiro behind it, he uttered a single word.

"Tachikaze"

As soon as he said this, the entire arena was engulfed in dirt. The winds emitted were powerful enough to completely shatter the ice dragon and blew Toshiro across the field into a wall.

"It is unfortunate" Naruto said to Torhiro as he fought to remain conscious "My sword is possibly the worst possible opponent for yours." As Naruto finished talking, Toshiro world went black.

-(In Captains Meeting)-

"Now" said an old man with a white haori with the number one on its back as he finished asigning another academy graduate to a division. "There are only two graduates left, Naruto Namikaze and Toshiro Hitsugaya, they both graduated the academy in just one year are excel in all of the shinigami arts. Who wants them in their division."

As soon as he said this the room broke into torrents of arguing as each of the captains gave their reasons as to why they wanted them in their division.

"QUIET" the old man screamed as he attempted to gain order "You are captains and you will act in a manner which reflects you position. Now, I will eliminate the division where they wouldn't belong and we will do from their. The First Division is out, no matter how promising they might be, it is impossible for new graduates to be in my division. The Second Division also seems out, they just don't seem to fit, and neither of their zanpakuto's is suited for assassination anyways. The Third Division is also out, they aren't the right type for that division. The Fourth Division is out as well, Namikaze did show interest and excelled in healing arts, but his talents could do better in a more battle oriented division. The Fifth Division is also eliminated, while both show great promise in kido, it is nowhere near their specialty in battle. Neither are of noble blood, so the Sixth is out and from what I hear Namikaze isn't very fond of nobility, so best they steer clear of them. The Seventh isn't a possibility either, while they do like a somewhat direct form of combat, they try to plan their battles out ahead of time. The Eight is a possibility and the Ninth, like the Fifth is unsuited for them. The Tenth, Eleventh and Thirteenth are also possibilities and the Twelfth is out."

As he finished his explanation, the Captains mulled this over,

Soifon, the captain of the Second Division looked rather indifferent, if they weren't Second Division material why should she care?

The Vice-Captain of the Third Division looked relived, after all after the defection of its Captain the Third Division was in chaos, they didn't need some hot shot prodigy making it worst.

Retsu Unohana, the Captain of the Fourth Division looked rather disappointed, this Naruto seemed interesting, it was rare someone of his fighting capabilities showed interest in healing, she would have to talk with him sometime.

Sōsuke Aizen, the newly promoted captain of the Fifth Division looked disappointed as well, though for more sinister reasons, those two could have become powerful allies.

Ginrei Kuchiki, the captain of the Sixth Division looked disinterested he had heard of Namikaze's dislike of nobles. While he may respect him for saying such things despite possible repercussions, his attitude would never work in the Sixth.

Sajin Komamura, captain of the Seventh Divisions didn't react at all, after all who would argue with the General of the Gotei 13?

Kaname Tosen, newly promoted captain of the Ninth Division look somewhat disappointed, they could have become allies in the quest to rid the world of war.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of the Twelfth Division didn't care, though they may have made to experiments...

After giving this careful thought, the old man, known as Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai made his final choice "Since they work exceptionally in a team, Naruto Namikaze and Toshiro Hitsugaya will be placed in the Tenth Division, under its captain, Isshin Kurosaki."

"The tenth huh?" Naruto mused, sitting on his bed at the academy for the last time. "Should be fun, I hear their caption is a character."

"Yeah" replied Toshiro who was sitting across from him on his own bed "What is his name, Kurosaki something"

"Isshin" finished Naruto absentmindedly "I hear he's looking for a new third and fourth seat, I bet we'll have a shot."

"Ya think?" asked Toshiro, eyebrows raised "We just graduated from the academy, why would he pick us?"

"Well for one, i'm just plain awesome" Naruto boasted confidently "And you aren't to shabby either."

"Gee thanks" said Toshiro sarcastically "Your praise is heart warming."

"Your welcome" Naruto replied cheerfully as he sat up in the bed "By the way, we have to be at the Tenth Division headquarters in fifteen minutes" he finished before disappearing.

I took Toshiro a couple of seconds before those words finally registered with him. Looking around he noticed that all of Naruto's stuff was gone. "NARUTO, YOU IDIOT" he roared fuming.

-In the Tenth-

"Here we are" Naruto said as he stood outside of a gate with the number ten on it "Tenth Division, here I come." he announced as he pushed the gates open.

_'Hehehe' _Naruto laughed in his head as he heard a distant yell _'It seems Toshiro is mad, ah well he should have been prepared.'_

"Huh" Naruto said, standing just inside the gate "It looks exactly like the Thirteen" he muttered to himself._ 'Does no one have verity'_ he thought to himself.

_'It seems not'_ replied a voice in his head.

Over the year in the adademy Naruto and Kamikaze had become much closer. They regularly talked inside his head, and Kamikaze had even gotten to a point where she began to manifest herself out of his mind.

_'We'll just have to spice up their lives'_ the voice continued '_If I remember correctly, you haven't pulled a prank in almost a decade.'_

_'A prank'_ Naruto shot back with interest _'And what makes you think that I would partake in anything that immature?"_

A large snort was all he got back in response _'I live in your head' Kamikaze retorted 'I've seen some of the things that go through here, You've been waiting until you got out of the academy to pull some pranks.'_

_'Well you know' _Naruto thought sheepishly _'I never could do them with the threat of Akatsuki back when I was alive, and this place is to boring for my taste, maybe I can even get Toshiro in on the job.'_

_'Yeah right' _Kamikaze responded with a laugh _'The day Toshiro pranks someone is the day that Tsunade gives up gambling.'_

_'Never know' _Naruto said with a shrug '_Maybe I've been a bad influence on him.'_

_'You would be a bad influence on a cardboard box'_Kamikaze muttered.

_'Hey' _Naruto replied indignity _'I'm a great influence on people'_

As this argument was going on a man was standing in from of Naruto with an amused expression on his face.

He man seemed to be of slightly above average height with tall spiky black hair. He bore the standard shinigami captain garb with an ordinary looking katana worn at his left waist.

"Hello" he said obnoxiously, waving his hands in front of Naruto's face.

"Ummm, Hi" Naruto replied, unsure how to respond to this strange man.

"Hello young man" said the man even more boisterously if possible "I am your new captain Isshin Kurosaki. You may call may call be Isshin, or Caption Kurosaki, or even Supreme master of awesomeness if you like." he finished getting into a pose with his thumb up and a huge smile on his face, teeth glinting,

_'Oh god' _Naruto said to himself looking slightly sick_ 'That's that same pose Gai and Lee always did. It took Tsunade threatening to forbid green jumpsuits to get them to stop.'_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Kurosaki" Naruto managed to spit out through his horror.

"What a pleasant young man" the eccentric captain with tears running down is face "Unfortunately I have paperwork to finish so my lovely Vice-Captain will be the one to give you the tour." he finished with another large smile. "Wait" he said suddenly, looking around, "shouldn't there be another one here."

"Ahhh Toshiro" Naruto replied nonchalantly "He'll be here in a little bit, he slept in late. I know, I told him he needed to learn to be responsible, but he just wouldn't listen." he finished with a large sigh.

Isshin gave a sniff as tear began to fall again "What a thoughtful young man, I am so proud to have you in my division."

"Ummm, thanks" Naruto said weakly _'I am so glad I'm used to Gai and Lee, at least I know how to deal with this. I fell so sorry for Toshiro, he'll be scared for life'_

Isshin's voice brought Naruto out of his musings, "Ahhh here is my Vice-Captain, Naruto this is Rangiku Matsumoto my Vice-Captain and Rangiku, this is out new recruit Naruto Namikaze."

"Hello Vice-Captain Matsumoto." Naruto said respectfully with a slight bow. After he said this he looked up and his eyes widened slightly. She wore a slightly modified standard uniform with a pink scarf over he shoulders, the neck line was much lower show showcased her more than generous, assets. Naruto could feel he face heat up as he looked at those, but that's a story for another time. She had orange hair, and from what Naruto could tell, a flawless face.

"Wow Captain" She exclaimed, taking in Naruto's features "Why didn't you tell me the new recruit was so handsome."

When he heard these words Naruto's blush became even more renounced, after all, how often do you get called handsome by a unknown, beautiful female?

"Ummm, Rangiku, I think your embarrassing him." Isshin said with a slight sweat drop.

"Oh" said Rangiku surprised "No matter. As you heard, I am the Vice-Captain of the tenth division. Most people call me Vice-Captain Matsumoto, but you can call be Rangiku if you like" she finished with a wink.

"If you stop flirting, you still need to take him on the tour" Isshin grumbled "Anyway, I'm off, stuff to do and all." he informed before disappearing in shimmer.

"Well now" Rangiku said, placing he arm over Naruto's shoulder "Now that were alone..."

Before she could say anything more Naruto felt an familiar, icy reiatsu. _'It seems Toshiro has found me'_ he thought nervously.

Turning around slowly, Naruto caught sight of his short friend, who with glowing blue eyes and wind wiping through his hair, looked pretty terrifying.

"Umm, Hi" Naruto said, chuckling weakly.

"NA-RU-TO" Toshiro grounded out angrily.

Naruto braced himself for the inevitable onslaught, but before Toshiro could act a high pitched, girly squeal rang out.

"So Cute!"

Before he knew it, Toshiro's aura of of death was gone and he found himself lifted up between two squishy objects.

Naruto saw his friend, being pressed into Rangiku's chest and could only think of one think of one thing _'He's so lucky.'_

"W-What" Toshiro gasped out, trying to get some air after nearly being suffocated.

"The little kid is so cute" Rangiku said happily "So is he your little brother or something Naruto?" she asked curiously.

Both ignored the cry of "I'm not a kid." as Naruto replied "Naa, he's the other graduate, he is just a little bit vertically challenged."

"Wait, its you" screamed Toshiro, wildly pointing his finger at his new Vice-Captain.

_'Wow' _Naruto thought_ 'I've never seen him act like that before.'_

_'They must know each other_' replied Kamikaze, who was enjoying the scene _'Maybe they were lovers in their previous lives or something.'_

_'Maybe'_ Naruto thought back, absentmindedly "So you two know each other?"

"Of course?" Toshiro replied excitedly "She's the one who brought be to Seireitei."

"Eh?" Rangiku asked confusedly "Oh right" she finally said like a light bulb suddenly shined in head "Your that cute little kid from the First District right?"

"So thats how you know each other?" Naruto asked. Upon seeing their nods he contained "Ohh, and I thought that you were former lovers from a past live or something."

"What!" They both yelled, horrified at the idea.

_'She is way to bubbly for me'_ thought Toshiro disgusted at the thought.

_'He's just a kid'_ thought Rangiku in shock _'Though his friend has potential'_ she finished with a giggle.

"Only someone as twisted up in the head like you could come up with something like that" yelled Toshiro with a twitching eye.

_'WHAT'_ came a screeching voice in his head _'How dare he say I'm as twisted as you are, how insulting can you get. LET ME AT HIM'_

In the corner of his mind scape Naruto was sulking '_Why is everyone so mean to me' _he mentally whined.

"Err Naruto" said Toshiro hesitantly "Are you crying."

"You don't understand shorty" Naruto sobbed, dropping to his knees "everyone is so mean to me, I just don't think I can carry on anymore."

"He's fine" Toshiro muttered, trying to get the tears off his shoes.

"Anyway" Naruto said, fully recovered from his previous episode "How about that tour?"

"Ummm..sure" Rangiku said, unsure how to reply to the insane blond, who seemed more eccentric than even her captain.

"This was" she said, motioning them onward. "First off." She began "Is obviously the courtyard we are in now, there are gardens for meditation, outdoor sparing grounds and paths for walks. To the left is the main dorrmitory for the shinigami, and the right is where the higher ranked ones live. The captain still hasn't decided what rank you'll be, but he has a lot to take into account, just don't try to steal my position or you'll find yourself in a world of hurt got it" she threatened looking like a vengeful goddess and seeing their frantic nods gave them a large smile. "Now" she began again "The main part of the tour will be showing you the facilities located in the administrative building." Gesturing them forward, at the large building looming ahead they began to walk.

"Do all the divisions look the same" Naruto asked as they walked.

"Hmmm" Rangiku hummed thoughtfully "For the most part yes, the Sixth is more elegant and the Eleventh is almost entirely dedicated to sparing area but the overall structure of it are the same. This was done in insure that there would be no huge difference in the facilities each division has, thus preventing the arguing of the captains."

"I see..." Naruto trailed off. "So then any extra facilities like the Twelfths research division had to be built independently by the division."

"Yup, you really are smart, no wonder they are calling you a genius." she said in slight awe. "Ahhh, were here" she said as they arrived at building." Opening the door, she gestured them to enter "Now, to the first door to the right is Captain Kurosaki's office, please don't bother him unless it is really important, without a third and fourth seat he had a lot of extra paperwork and I deal with most of the day to day activities." she informed as they waled by a the unimportant looking door that led to the office of one of the most important people in all of Soul Society.

"So.." asked Naruto, not so discreetly "Are there any front runners for the Third and Fourth seats?"

"Ummm, not really" Rangiku replied with a frown "Now that I think about it, the Tenth is really low on talent at the moment, maybe that's a reason why you were assigned to the division."

As this conversation was going on, Toshiro was taking it all in with an impassive expression on his face.

_'You know, you really should participate in the conversation'_ a voice rang in his head.

_'I don't know Hyorinmaru, Naruto just seems to be acting like an idoit again.' _he thought back.

Like Kamikaze, Hyorinmaru was also conversing with its wielder more frequently and beginning to manifest itself outside the mind. Of course, if people knew this, then they would be hailed as even more genius than before.

_'Blondie is just being ambitious'_ Hyorinmaru informed _'You're lucky that he has decided to take you under his wing, I sense great power in him, I wouldn't be surprised if he went easy on you in your fights.'_

_'I am grateful for all of his help, but sometimes its like he's just pushing himself to far, pretty soon he is going to piss off an authority figure and get into big trouble.'_

And indeed he was thankful that Naruto was there. Without him, there would be no way he would have been able to slide through the academy as easy as he did. Naruto introduced and taught him techniques that should only be known to high level shinigami, advanced reiatsu manipulation, shunpo, and dozens of other things which he shouldn't know or even we aware of.

_'Its like he is hiding something' _Toshiro finally thought back _'He shouldn't know these things and every time I think I catch up to him, he shows a whole new set of skills.'_

_'True' _Hyorinmaru admitted, conceding the point '_But I have felt no lies or deceit from him. He's not an idiot, I'm sure he knows what he's doing.'_

_'Okay, Okay, your right' _Toshiro said in defeat _'He's never led me wrong and he deserves my friendship at least.'_

Totally oblivious to the internal debate, Naruto was standing in front of Toshiro tapping him on the head. "You Who, ya in there?" he asked in a sing song voice.

"What" was Toshiro's intelligent reply.

"Don't tell me you missed the entire tour" asked Naruto with a deadpanned look.

"Errr." Toshiro began, speepishly "Hyorinmaru was talking to me. Care to give be a run down?"

Naruto sighed "Kids these days" he mumbled, ignoring Toshiro's irritated expression when he heard this. "Each floor has a designated function, the first floor is where the offices are located and the offices can be told apart by the labeled doors. The second floor is the cafeteria and eating areas, which given the size of the division, takes up the entire second floor. Third floor are various training facilities from weight rooms to sparing areas. The fourth floor is used to like a warehouse to store equipment, amour, other types of weapons, uniforms anything you can think of. Finally the fifth floor is only used by high ranking seated officers. It holds a few rooms for those who have to full all nighters when work piles up, apparently Captain Kurosaki is mainly staying there because of all of the work he has to do without Third and Fourth seats."

"I see" Toshiro said "That's all there is to the division?"

"Well yeah" Naruto replied with a shurg "There are places all over Seireitei to hang out, so entertainment isn't a big concern."

"I see" Toshiro said, thinking "Wait" he asked suddenly "Where are we?"

"Wow, you really were out of it" Naruto noted, amused "We're in the Captains office, Vice-Captain Matsumoto went to go find him so we can get out rank and squad placement."

"Squad placement?" asked Toshiro with a raised eyebrow.

"Good Gosh, did you hear anything" Naruto asked exasperatedly "Each member of a division is assigned into a smaller squad which is headed by a seated officer, it makes it easier for the higher ups to command."

Before Toshiro could replied the door opened to reveal their new Captain.

"Captain Kurosaki" they both said respectfully with a polite bow.

"You two are way to serious" Isshin said amusingly "You need to loosen up, get a girlfriend or something."

"Anyway" he said getting serious, and showing them why he was a captain "I have decided you new rank and position. Welcome to the tenth division, Fourth seat Toshiro Hitsugaya Vice-Captain of the first reconnaissance squad under Vice-Captain Matsumoto."

Seeing Toshiro's shocked expression he moved on to Naruto "And welcome Third Seat Naruto Namikaze, Vice-Captain of the first assault squad, under myself.

–

"Today is a sad day for not only the Leaf Village, but the entire world." A voice rang out through a large gathered crowd.

The voice was emanating from a podium in the center of the crowd.

"We lost many good shinobi today, and their death will lead to a more peaceful world."

The person was none other then the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju.

"Friends, family, and lovers have all given their lives to allow Konoha to thrive for another day." she said with tears slowly gathering in her eyes "The the threat of Akatsuki gone, we can all sleep safer knowing that they can no longer harm us or those important to us."

Gazing into the crowd, she could see the grief etched into the faces of the crowd and the faces of those who survived the final battle. "Now that the threat has been eliminated, please give a prayer to those who have fallen in battle against Akastuki. Kakashi Hatake, Maito Gai, Rock Lee, Asuma Sarutobi, Chouji Akimichi, Shino Aburame, Jiraya and finally the man who I selected to become the next Hokage, Naruto Namikaze." as she said the final word, the tears which had began to gather, started to fall.

The crowd all lowered their heads, even if some still may not have been a big fan of Naruto, they had no problem honoring his sacrifice.

"Their names will of course be printed onto the memorial stone with full honors" Tsunade continued, trying in vain to regain control of her emotions "And like the Sandaime some twenty years ago, I will continue to be Hokage until I can find a suitable successor."

"Remember this" she said suddenly, now longer trying to hold in the tears "Konoha will stand strong, even with this tragedy our Will Of Fire will not be diminished. If anything, this will strengthen out resolve to protect what these brave people died for." and with that being said, Tsunade walked off the stage, head held low, with torrents of tears staining the front of her.

-Later That Evening-

Tsunade walked out into a balcony that was attached to the Hokage tower to see it already occupied.

"Are you alright, Sakura" she asked, seeing the head of pink hair which was so unique.

"I-I Don't Know" Sakura sobbed hysterically. "Th-Th-They're all gone" she sobbed even harder "Kakashi, Sasuke, and even Naruto. Why did they die? THEY PROMISED ME THE WOULD'NT DIE" she screamed in grief.

Tsunade looked at the women in pity. "There There" she said, soothingly taking her into an embrace "They wouldn't want to see you like this would they" she asked.

"B-But" Sakura sobbed again "I was there when Kakashi died, T-There was so much blood." she said, whispering the last part. "He said something right before he died" she said suddenly.

"What" asked Tsunade, curiously.

"He said, Obito, Rin, Minato, here I come." Sakura said softly "Who are they?" she asked.

"They were his teammates" Tsunade informed slowly "Kakashi was a lot like you in that area, his father committed suicide when he was a child, his teammates died, and then later his sensei, the Yondaime Hokage died in the Kyuubi attack."

"H-How could he live through that?" Sakura asked, shocked at the dark past of her former teacher.

"He dealt with" Tsunade said simply "As shinobi we have to deal with lose, he always found something to live for."

"B-But now team seven is dead" she said, sobbing even harder "I at least thought N-Naruto would always be there, he seemed like someone who could never die" she said, a new wave of tears falling down.

"I know" Tsunade said, forcing herself to maintain the hold on her emotion "He did didn't he, I would have never have believed that he would die, he never became Hokage like he said he would." she finished, looking up at the sky.

"You know" Tsunade said softly "Team seven seems to have a bad history. The first team seven was led by the Sandaime with myself, Jiraya and Orochimaru. One turned traitor and the other is dead. The next team seven was led by Jiraya, two died, names forgotten to history and the final one would later become the Yondaime Hokage. Next was led by the Yondaime, and once again two members died and this time, the sensei went with them, leaving only Kakashi remaining. Then there is your team, One turned traitor, the other dead and the sensei is dead as well. All members of team seven, and all impacted the shinobi world greatly. Its up to you Sakura" She finished far away look in her eyes.

"Up to me for what?" Sakura asked curiously, tears forgotten as she listened to the misfortune of the doomed teams.

"Its up to you to train the new generation" Tsunade said finally "No matter who it is, its always a member of team seven who raises above the rest, they become more than just shiniobi, they become legends."

"I-I don't know" Sakura shuddered "I don't know how I would teach a team with what happened"

Her brooding was interrupted with a light smack on the head.

"Get over it" Tsunade said lightly "Kaskashi, Gai, Asuma, Naruto. They didn't all die so those in the younger generation could sulk about it. They died so you could have a brighter future and eventually pass the torch to the next generation."

"You're right" Sakura said after a moments thought "They wouldn't want me to sulk about it." Standing up she placed a hand on her heart "I'll do my best to make sure that Konoha stands strong in the future, that's the best way to honor them." Turning around the Hokage she bowed slightly "Thank you, Tsunade-sensei, for helping me to bet my thoughts in order." and with that being said, she walked out of the balcony, leaving Tsunade to her thoughts.

'Heh' Tsunade thought 'Maybe it won't be that hard to find a successor after all.'

Looking up to the sky again she asked aloud "Why did you have to die Naruto? You made Sakura cry, and left her alone in this world."

With a sigh she looked out at the village, which from her vantage point looked quite beautiful.

"Do you even know how many people you were important to" she asked the wind. "How many people it will hurt to see you go."

-(Elsewhere)-

Inside of a small ramen stand several people were gathered around a counter telling stories.

"...And then he pulls out his sword and shreds the missing-nins clothes tatter's." said a man who had two red triangles running down his face who's name was Kiba Inuzuka. "He always was scary when he started waving that thing around" the man added as an afterthought.

"Yeah" agreed a black haired man with a pinaple shaped hair cut, he was known as Shikamaru Nara"I remember when I went to Whirlpool with him. He nearly took my head off when he started fantasizing himself as a master swordsman. Troublesome guy." he finished with a small smile as he reminisced.

"Naruto was always good for a laugh when we need it" said a blond women with her hair tied into a single pigtail. "He would always cause a ruckus with those disgusting toads" she laughed with a grimace when she said toads.

"Speaking of toads Ino, did Naruto ever pass down the contract?" asked a brown haired women with he hair tied down into two buns.

"No" said man with completely white eyes, signifying him to be a member of the Hyuuga clan, Neji Hyuuga to be more precise "I don't think he ever did Tenten, he planed on taking an apprentice after Akatsuki was taken care of" he said sadly.

As this was said, everyone looked down sadly.

"Come on guys, cheer up" said a new voice coming into the stand.

Turning around they caught sight of a head of pink hair, wearing pink and red clothing.

"Sakura!" the blond women, now identified as Ino exclaimed "are you errr...okay" she asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah" Sakura said, a little out of it "I realized that Naruto and Kakashi-sensei would want be to live on and protect Konoha."

As she said this, the others nodded.

"You're right" said Shikamaru, with a sigh "Asuma-sensei and Chouji would feel the same way."

"As would Gai-sensei and Lee" added Neji with the brown haired women, Tenten, nodding with him.

"I guess Shino would too" Kiba said after a bit "Though he never really let on what he was thinking, there is no doubt he loved this village and its people."

"Hey, Teuchi" Sakura said to the man in charge of the stand, "do you have any sake? I think those who have departed the earth deserve a toast"

"Yeah, sure" replied the elderly man, reaching under the counter he pulled a couple of bottles and and some saucers.

After everyone had picked one up and had theirs filled, Sakura said "To everyone who gave their lives to make this world a safer place." With a chinking of the saucers they downed theirs in one gulp.

"How about another" said Teuchi, refilling their saucers and filling one for himself and lifting it into the air "And how about to Naruto Namizake, the man who changed the hearts of many, defended the Leaf Village with all his strength and the man who changed the world."

"To Naruto" several voices rang throughout the evening.

–

It had been twenty years since his induction to the Tenth Division, and Naruto could honestly say that he was content for the first time in his life. He had nearly taken over the Tenth's assault squad, with Isshin having to be there less and less. Sure he could have taken over the spot of Vice-Captain if were to challenge Rangiku for it, but he had grown close to the Vice-Captain, and she would be devastated if she were to lost he position. Plus, this gave him some time to slow down and smell the roses in life. While he was alive there was always someone who wanted to power and interfered into his life. Orochimaru and later Sasuke, and then Akstsuki, Naruto could never catch a break. So it was a nice change to have a semblance or normality in his life.

Right now, however there was one thing that as on Naruto's mind as he sat in his office, his feet up on his desk.

_'Captain Kurosaki had been acting weird lately'_ he thought, pondering the eccentricities of his captain _'At least, weirder than normal.'_ he added.

_'Its almost as if he's hiding something' _Came a voice behind him.

Over the two decades, Kamikaze had gotten to a point where she could manifest herself outside of the mind scape at will. Apparently doing so is quite fun and for a couple of years would spontaneously appear out just to surprise Naruto.

"Maybe, but what?" Naruto asked the apparition behind him.

_'Maybe he found himself a girlfriend' _Kamikaze replied, amused.

"You're kidding right?" Naruto said, blankly "What women in Seireitei could deal with his...habits."

_'Maybe she's alive' _Kamikaze retorted, _'That would be why he's letting you take even more control of the division lately.'_

"It also could be because Rangiku is lazy" Naruto said "Besides, having an affair with a mortal is a BIG no-no."

A knock on the door broke Naruto out of his argument before Kamikaze could respond. "Yes" he said, as he took his feet of his desk, straightened himself up and deactivated the trap which would send a couple dozen knives at the person if the just barged in.

_'Wasn't that funny' _Naruto thought, stifling a laugh as he recalled the time when Captain Kurosaki discovered his erm, improvements. A couple of the knives had come rather close to, well, sensitive parts.

_'He would finch whenever he came into my office for a couple of months after that happened'_ Naruto recalled with a smile.

A nondescript member of the Tenth came in "Naruto-sama" he said nervously, bowing deeply. "Vice-Captain Matsumoto told me to give these to you" he said, gesturing towards a large pile of paperwork he was carrying.

Naruto gave a barley audible groan, "Fine, let me see it."

Setting onto the desk, the shinigami, who was probably just a new recruit high tailed it out of there before he could get blamed for something, or worse, be on the receiving end of one the Third Seats pranks which were famous or should I say infamous all over Seireitei.

Sighing Naruto took a look at the paperwork he need to do. _'What'_ he thought startled and slightly annoyed _'This is Captains Kurosaki's paperwork, where the hell is he? I'm already doing all the combat exercises with the squad, what can he be doing that's so important?'_

Grumbling about unfair captains, Naruto got started on the paperwork with thoughts about what his captain could be doing and how he could punish him when he came back.

-(Elsewhere)-

Off in the real world, said captain sneezed and felt a shiver go down his spine.

"You okay Isshin?" asked a man wearing a green and white striped bucket hat.

"Yeah, Someone must be talking about me." Isshin replied, rubbing his nose _'Note to self' _he thought to himself '_Stay away from Naruto, I have a feeling he has bad things in store for me'_ he finished, shuddering. "So" he began, recomposing himself "Can you do it Kisuke?"

The man now identified as Kisuke sighed and looked at his friend a little strangely "I can, but it will bind all your powers, are your sure its worth it?"

"Yeah" Isshin replied back a distant look in his eye "To me it is"

"This women is worth that much is she" Kisuke asked the Captain of the Tenth Division.

"Yup" Isshin replied dreamily "Masaki is a one in a million find. I got sucked into her eyes and couldn't help but fall in love.."

"I see.." Kisuke trailed off "So, does she know the truth about you."

"Of course not" Isshin replied, looking like Kisuke had grown another head "I am leaving that part of me behind and hopefully my children will never have deal with all of this crap. Besides can you imagine the conversation? Hello dear, by the way, I'm really a dead spirit inhabiting a fake body, do you still want to marry me? That would do well." he finished sarcastically.

"Okay, Okay" Kisuke respond "And your okay about leaving your division" Kisuke asked dubiously.

"I couldn't leave it in better hands" Isshin replied with confidence.

"Oh" Kisuke replied surprised "Have a good Vice-Captain eh?"

"Naw" Isshin replied with shrug "Rangiku would ruin the division, its my third and fourth seats that'll handle it" he boasted with pride.

"That quite the amount of confidence you have in them" Kisuke remarked offhandedly, though you could see a glint of interest in his eyes.

Isshin snorted "You would to if you knew them as well as they don't know I do." he said.

"Wait" Kisuke said, struggling to figure out what Isshin said "What" he said, giving up.

"I'll admit, those two are sneaky, but I know the tenth division like the back of my hand. I have full confidence in them because I've seen their nightly training excretions." Isshin informed.

"And thats enough to allow them to run the Tenth?" asked Kisuke sceptically "You view those people as your family, there has to be more."

"Other than the fact that both are captain level" he said, smirking at his companions shocked look "They both have tremendous leadership skills, in little over a decade they had almost full taken command of the assault and reconnaissance squads. They have my full confidence."

"Captain level huh" muttered Kisuke interested "Are they really that good?"

"Heh, of course" Isshin said, smirking "Ya think I would lie to you. My fourth seat is impressive, low-captain level for sure, but let me tell you, I wouldn't want to get into a fight with my third seat when he's mad."

"He's that good" Kisuke asked, impressed and more than a little intrigued.

"Oh yeah" Isshin said, a thoughtful frown adorning his face "Not only that, but I have a feeling he's keeping a couple trump cards hidden. Carefree during everyday like, once he hits the battlefield, may god has mercy on your soul if your his enemy."

"Not much can scare you Isshin" Kisuke remarked nonchalantly.

"You would be scared to if you saw him" Isshin said, shivering slightly "It was one of the first assignments he had, reports said that there were only a couple mid-level hollows. I had my squad and the reconnaissance squad attack to give him and my fourth seater some field experience. Well they were wrong, we were ambushed by several Adjuchas, obviously there weren't to much of a problem for me, but a couple of them teamed up on my fourth seat and managed to injure him. Well Naruto, my third seater, went totally ballistic, he released his zanpakuto and used so much reiatsu in his attack that the hollows were completely vaporized. Of course he was in the Fourth Division for a week after that with reiatsu exhaustion but still, that attack was frightening, and he's only gotten stronger."

"Interesting" Kisuke murmured thoughtfully "It seems that those two will be important in the coming war."

"I suppose" Isshin agreed "That is, if Aizen doesn't get to them first."

Here, Kisuke narrowed his eyes "That would be dangerous wouldn't it." he said darkly "Even with his powerful allies, he would still have no chance against on an all out assault on Seireitei, but if he were to gain those two, the odds may change."

"I know" Isshin said through gritted teeth "But I can't tell them anything. They may be good, but there also rash, there still no match for Aizen but they might try to confront him."

"True, True, such is folly of youth." Kisuke agreed with a large sigh. "Isshin" he said gravely "If they do happen to join Aizen, you know what you have have to do right?"

"Don't worry" said Isshin, all traces of the happy, obnoxious captain gone from his face "If they betray Siereitei, I will end them" he finished with a whisper, which seemed even colder than Toshiro's reiatsu.

"But will you be able to?" asked Kisuke "Because from what you've told me, they might exceed you in a couple years."

"Hey" Isshin replied, indignantly "Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't fight back, I mean, look at old Yama."

"True, True" Kisuke replied defencivly "there is no doubting your battle abilities, but there's no doubt about something."

"What" Isshin said curiously.

"Those are two scary kids" Kisuke said as he gazed at the stars above.

"Yeah" replied Isshin, joining him "I have a feeling that those two will either bring peace to this world, or throw it into chaos, they are defiantly a harbinger of change."

-(Two Days Later)-

"Naruto, Toshiro" called a female voice, interrupting the two figures who were sparing in an outdoor training ground.

"Yeah?" replied the blond, wiping some sweat from his brow. "What is it."

"We've been called to the General's office" Rangiku replied, "I didn't get anymore information, but he said to come get you and rush back."

"We better get going them" Toshiro said, joining in the conversation.

With a nod, all three shimmered out of existence in a flash, the use of shunpo obvious.

-(In the Captains Meeting Room)-

When they arrived at the intended location, Naruto noted that all captains, save his and the vacant Thirds, with their Vice-Captains were in attendance standing in two rows parallel to the doors.

_'What could be so important that it warrants all of the captains in' _he wondered _'And more the point, __why are Toshiro and I needed.'_

"General Yamamoto" Rangiku spoke respectfully as they stopped in the center of the room, between the two rows of captains. "Vice-Captain Rangiku Matsumoto, Third Seat Naruto Namikaze and Fourth Seat Toshiro Hitsugaya reporting as order."

"Good" the aged general replied "take your station" he said to Rangiku gesturing towards the Tenth divisions designated area.

As soon as Rangiku had moved into he spot, representing the the Tenth the General spoke.

"A letter found its way onto my desk this morning" he began with a grave voice "Former Captain of the Tenth Division Isshin Kurosaki has abandoned Seireitei."

"What!" exclaimed Naruto, Toshiro and Rangiku, unable to stop themselves.

"I have checked in the the Central 46" continued on Yamamoto as though he didn't hear them "And since he has contributed heavily to Seireitei, he will not be persecuted. However, should he interfere in any Seireitei matter, he is to be eliminated."

_''Capitan Kurosaki left?' _Naruto thought shocked, but that quickly turned to anger at himself _'I should have known, he was acting to distant.'_

_"Aww, Stop blaming yourself'_ said voice in his head _'There was no way to know, its obvious that Toshiro and Rangiku had no idea either'_

After he had let them have a moment to gather his thoughts, Yamamoto continued "In the note, Kurosaki named who he wanted to succeed him."

"Oh" said a man with regal feature, obviously the captain of the Sixth Division Byakuya Kuchiki "Do you intend to honor his wishes?" he asked emotionally.

"Should the person be acceptable then yes" Yamamoto replied after a moments thought "Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain Isshin has named you his successor, do you accept the nomination?" he asked, shocking the whole room.

"M-Me" Toshiro asked, shocked "Why me? Naruto is stronger than I am."

"It matters not" Yamamoto replied "Unless Third Seat Naruto Namikaze challenges you for the position, you just need to show that you are capable of preforming a captains level Ban-Kai to gain the position."

Toshiro stilled looked shock and looked over to Naruto for what he thought he should do.

Naruto, himself was going though an internal argument.

_'Why did the captain choose, Toshiro, I mean he's more than capable for the position, but there has to be a reason.'_ he thought, trying to figure out his captains choice.

Seeing Toshiro looking at him Naruto was amused _'He cares what I think eh? Or does he just not want to get beat in front of other people again'_ "Go for it" Naruto said with a smile "Don't worry, I won't challenge you for it and kick your butt in front everyone."

"Cha" Toshiro said smiling a little "What makes you think you could beat me?" Turing back to Yamamoto he said "So all I need to do is show Ban-Kai?" he asked sceptically, it sounded rather easy.

"Correct" Yamamoto replied "do you accept?"

Taking a few breaths Toshiro opened his mouth and replied, "Yes."

"Very Good" the aged general replied "Let us move to a more appropriate location to test your Ban-Kai."

-(First Division Training Ground)-

This is preposterous the captain of the Sixth Division said "He has only been a shinigami for a space two decades, even a for prodigy it'll take three hundred years before he can achieve his."

"Don't be so sure, Byakuya." said the Thrteen Division captain Jushiro Ukitake "He might surprise you after all."

Byakuya snorted "It takes two decades to merely learn how to CONTROL Ban-Kai, like I said there is no way."

As the captains argued about his abilities, Toshiro was getting a pep talk from his long time friend.

"Come on, Toshiro, you'll be fine" Naruto replied reassuringly.

"I know I can do it" Toshiro replied "But it should be you here right now." he said.

"Peh" Naruto said, waving away the concern "Captain Kurosaki was planning something" he said so that only Toshiro could hear "I have a feeling that something is brewing in Siereitei, and if he thinks you're a better choice for captain, then I believe it."

"Okay" Toshiro said, loud enough for the bickering captains to hear "I'm ready."

"Knock em dead shorty" Naruto said as he joined Rangiku on the sidelines.

_'Ready Hyorinmaru?' _he thought to his zanpakuto.

_'Ready' _came the quick reply.

"Ban-Kai" Toshiro said slowly, reiatsu gathering around him "Daiguren Hyorinmaru"

As he said this, the spectators covered their eyes as a wave of snow and ice overcame the area. When it finally cleared Toshiro could be clearly seen, though he looked radically different.

His sword hilt, which was a four pointed star now possessed eight points, the sword itself was now covered in ice in the shape of a dragon head. The most notable things however were the two large wings and a tail sticking out of his back.

_'Impossible'_ the Sixth Division captain thought as he watched the scene with wide eyes _'Ban-Kai is achieved when a shinigami is at the pinnacle of their power. Even the noble families, who's shinigami are always superior, a member who can use Ban-Kai comes up only every few generations. How can this street urchin possibly posses Ban-Kai?'_

"Most interesting" Yamamoto remarked as he looked upon the young shinigami "Excellent" he praised "Congratulations, Captain Hitsugaya" he finished with a small smile.

"Is that all then" asked Byakuya who looked like he had eaten a rotten piece of meat.

"No" the general replied "There is still one matter to attend to."

"There is?" as Toshiro as he sealed his sword back into its original form.

"Yes" Yamamoto replied, now looking at Naruto with interest "In Kurosaki's letter, he also stated that he had a nomination for the captaincy Third Division, none other the Naruto Namikaze."

"Another one?" asked a man wearing a pink haori, Eight Division captain Shunsui Kyoraku "Isshin was holding out on us wasn't he?"

"Indeed" Yamamoto replied "So everyone accepts Naruto Namikaze as a nomination?" he asked, not really expecting anyone to voice vote against it.

"I can't say I do" replied a man with a small smile "You see, I was just about to recommend my Vice-Captain for the position."

"I see..." Yamamoto trailed off "How do you suggest we solve this then, Captain Aizen?" he asked.

"Why not a fight? Aizen said with a shrug "Winner gets the position of Third Division Captain."

"Does everyone agree?" Yamamoto asked, looking at his fellow captains.

See their nods he spoke "It is decided then. There shall be a battle for the Third Division captaincy in one week, Third Seat of the Tenth Division Naruto Namikaze against the Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division, Gin Ichimaru."

–

"GAH" Naruto yelled as he threw another folder onto an impressive stack on his desk.

It was the evening before the fight, and Naruto still couldn't find anything.

"Having trouble" asked an amused voice from the doorway.

"Shut up Toshiro," Naruto grumbled, irritably.

"Hmpt" Toshiro scoffed "That should be Captain Hitsugaya to you" he finished in a smug voice.

"Keep telling yourself that, Captain shorty" Naruto said, waving him off. "I don't get it" he yelled, "There is no information about this Gin guy, I've been looking all day."

"Why do you need it?" asked Toshiro, bewildered "Are you not confident in your abilities or something?"

"Of course I am" said Naruto, insulted "I've been training for the last week, but it never hurts to know these things." he exclaimed.

"So" Toshiro began "What do you know?"

"Not much" Naruto muttered, frowning "Only that he graduated from the academy after only one year, and immediately after that, was named Captain Aizen's Third Seat, and then a couple years later, his Vice-Captain."

"No information about his abilities?" Toshiro asked, dubiously. "How can he a Vice-Captain without anyone knowing anything about his abilities?"

"No clue" said Naruto thoughtfully "is like someone is trying to hide his abilities, weird."

Looking at a clock on the wall, Naruto caught sight of the time "Wow, its pretty late, I'm going to bed Toshiro." Naruto said, getting out of his chair and leaving his office.

"Hey Naruto" Toshiro called at the retreating back of his friend.

"Yeah" Naruto replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You better not lose tomorrow." Toshiro said with a smirk "If you give the Tenth Divison a bad name, you're on bathroom duty for the next year."

"Sure thing Captain" Naruto replied with a mock salute "Your orders are my command." he replied before laughing and shunpoing to his quarters.

"Idiot" Toshiro replied with a small smile _'You better be careful tomarrow' _Toshiro thought with a slight sense of dread _'I have a feeling that Gin is more that meets the eye.'_

-(The Next Morning)-

Naruto woke to the sound of his alarm clock. _'Show time' _he thought as he rolled out of bed.

Naruto eyes glossed over as he put on several pieces of armor he had commissioned from deigns from his former home with practiced ease. They would allow him maximum freedom of movement, but still allow him some measure of protection. "I didn't think I would need this for a while." he muttered, strapping on several pouches which held some special kunai. "But something tells be that Gin is more than meets they eye, to not have any data on his skills, that would take a lot of work and influence to cover up." Pulling his shihakusho over his armor, Naruto looked at his hand at the strange headband like thing in his hand.

It was a metal plate attached to a length of cloth which allowed it to be tied. On the plate was a simple design, a spiral with a triangle jutting out the left side of it, it looked sort of like a leaf. It was the only object he had retained from his life. Naruto began stroking the pattern absentmindedly as he lost himself in thought 'Its been a long time' he thought sadly "They would be middle aged with now if their still even alive' memories of all of his former friends passed through his head. Fastening the headband around his forehead he looked into a mirror and determined eyes gazed back at him. "Toshiro's already a captain." he said, still looking at his reflection "Now its my turn." he finished as he strode out of his room, full of confidence.

-(In Battle Arena)-

Hundreds of shinigami were crammed into the arena, awaiting what would be the most exhilarating battle in his life.

Two figures stood across from each other in field.

One was a blond, of above average height, wearing the standard shihakusho. His sword was attatched to his back and his bright blue eyes burned with determination.

The other had silver hair and was slightly taller. He to wore the standard shihakusho, but with an armband with the number Five on his right arm. The most discerning thing about him though, was the creepy look on his face. His eyes were squinted and he bore a large, fake looking smile.

Up in the captains box, Toshiro looked at his friend with interest. '_His expressions, movements, and emotions are so different than normal, what happened to him.'_

_'He is preparing for battle' _A voice in his head rang out_ 'You've never seen him in a stressing battle have you?'_

_'I guess not_' Toshiro replied, brows narrowed in thought_ 'The only time I can remember him any different was that time when we were attacked by several Adjuchas when we were still fresh from the academy, I thought that I saw his eyes flash to red, but I was on the border on consciousness at the time after all'_

"What is that symbol he's wearing on his head" Toshiro muttered, unaware he said it out loud.

"I don't know" replied Rangiku from behind him "But I've never seen it before, have you?" she asked.

"No" Toshiro said, frowning slightly "But then again, he really never lets anyone in his room."

"Ohhh its starting" squealed Rangiku in delight, looking at the arena, leaving Toshiro to his thoughts.

-Down in the arena-

"This is a battle between the Third Seat of the Tenth Division and the Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division" Yamamoto called from the captains box, which somehow was heard by everyone. "The winner will gain the captaincy of the Third Division. There are no rules, but please try to avoid killing blows." He finished.

"BEGIN" he shouted as a small bit of fiery reiatsu exploded off him.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto dashed forward and punched Gin, sending him careening off into the opposite wall.

"Well Well" said the captain of the Eight Division, Shunsui Kyoraku "His shunpo seems to have even gotten even better."

"Yeah" Jushiro Ukitake, the captain of the Thirteen Division replied "That level of speed is indeed impressive, even my eyes had a bit of difficultly seeing, I bet Gin doesn't even know what hit him."

"That wasn't shunpo" came a voice from beside them.

"Oh" said Shunsui, looking at the petite women who was the Second Division captain "Then what was it Soi-Fong?"

With slightly narrowed eyes the Soi-Fong replied "That was pure speed" she said, shocking the people in hearing distance.

"What?" asked a shocked Byakuya Kuchiki, "You want us to believe that he can move that fast naturally?"

"No, I don't expect you to believe me" Soi-Fong replied "Because that level of speed should be impossible, his body should literally tear itself apart. Shunpo itself has a few flaws" she explained "If your good enough, you can detect the reiatsu usage with the technique, but if your using pure speed, the only thing that the opponent can use for defense is their reflexes."

As this conversation was going on, Naruto was watching the area where Gin had impacted the wall.

"You can stop acting" he called out "I know that didn't knock you out."

When he finished saying this, a figure emerged from the rubble "It seems I underestimated you" Gin said, no longer smiling, though his slitted eyes remained.

In a slow and deliberate move, he pulled out a sword from his side.

"What are you going to do with that?" asked Natuto, looking at the blade, which couldn't be longer than a foot and a half.

_'He must either have abysmal reiastu levels, which is unlikely, or exceptional control.' _Naruto thought, trying to think of the blades ability._ 'If that's the case, its likely to be a kido based release.'_

"Shoot him" Gin said as he pointed his sword as Naruto "Shinso" in a flash, the sword elongated and shot at Naruto at high speeds.

_'Shoot'_ Naruto thought as he tried to avoid the sword set on impaling him.

A second Naruto had moved to the right, avoiding the brunt of the attack.

Drip...

Drops of blood were leaking from his face as a long, thin cut could be seen on his left cheek.

_'Damn' _Naruto thought _'I've never seen anything like that before'_

Focusing reiatsu to his cheek, the dripping of blood stopped and the cut healed within seconds.

"Well would you look at that" Shunsui said, whistling as he saw a bit of steam coming from the healing cut. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's fairly high level healing kido, is it not, Retsu?" he asked.

"It is" Retsu replied with a small smile "He asked form some lessons in healing some time ago, but I was unaware he had gotten to such a level. To not need any incantation, or hand movements is something few can do."

"I see" Shunsui replied "He truly is a prodigy."

Back down on the field Naruto was a bit annoyed with himself_ 'Idiot'_ he mentally abolished '_You underestimated him.'_

"Spiral out of existence, Kamikaze" he yelled, as his sword transformed into its shikai state.

"Tachikaze" he yelled as he thrusted his sword in the direction of his opponent.

An explosion of dirt and rubble emanated from followed, covering the area Gin was standing in.

_'Did that do it?'_ Naruto asked himself as he looked into the destruction his technique wrought.

_'Darn'_ he thought as the smoke and dust cleared.

Gin was standing there with a aura of reiatsu around him. Around him the ground was blasted to bits, but he and the area behind him was untouched.

_'Incredible' _Naruto thought, slightly in awe _'He blocked that attack with reiatsu alone'_

"Now Now" Gin said, that infernal smile back on his face "That wasn't very nice." He dropped his smile and opened his eyes, revealing blood red orbs.

"Ban-Kai" he said, pointing his sword downwards. "Makaidaraku Shinso" (Hopefully reads something similar to "Hells corruption of Divine Spear")

Naruto's eyes widened and he tried jumping as numerous blades suddenly shot out of the ground.

"Gah" he grunted as several impaled him before he could leave the ground.

"This is my Ban-Kai" Gin said, smiling, which looked really evil with his red eyes "I control these numerous blades, which shoot out from the ground. There's no where to run."

_'Seems like I'll have to use that' _Naruto mused, trying to ignore the pain in varies parts of his body. '_Its a good thing I used body armor today' he mentally added 'If I didn't there a good chance that I would be dead right now'_

Ripping the blades from his body, Naruto spoke out "Ban-Kai" Reiatsu surrounded him as his sword transformed. His sword split into two parts, and then they both shrunk about a foot in length. One blade had a hilt of light blue with a guard in the wavy pattern, looking the wind. The other was similar but the hilt was a darker blue and the guard was in the shape of a wave. The blades were a dull silver color, with a stripe of color corresponding to the hilt color spiraling around the blade.

"Kamikaze Kakounami" (Hopefully, means Divine Wind, Descending Wave) he announced, holding his swords in a loose guard.

"Most fascinating" said Yamamoto from his place in the captains box.

"What is, ol' Yama" Shunsui asked "Something to do with his Ban-Kai? Its like nothing I've ever seen, that's for sure."

"Its because no one in all of the Gotei 13 has that type of Ban-Kai" he explained "There are two main types, the expansion type, which is most common, expels the tremendous amount of energy in Ban-Kai into the surrounding area, which forms into a large weapon which the wielder controls. Then there is another type which not many know about, the compression type. This type of Ban-Kai compresses the immense amount of reiastu into a small compact form, allowing one to keep the Ban-Kai active for a much longer duration of time." he finished.

"Interesting" Ukitake remarked "Do you know anyone with that type of Ban-Kai?" he asked.

"No one who is in Soul Society any longer" he informed, carefully.

"Well isn't that interesting" Gin remarked, looking at his opponents Ban-Kai "But will it do ya any good?" he asked as he sent blades at Naruto.

Naruto just smirked and said one word "Rasenkaze" A spiraling sphere of wind surrounded Naruto, knocking away the blades sent at him.

Pointing his wind sword at the surrounding blades he shouted "Kaze no Chiyaiba."

Wind whipped around the area as the blades we slice into smithereens.

"What?" exclaimed Gin shocked "What happened."

"Fool" Naruto said "Metal blades have a finite sharpness and level of strength, but nothing can cut wind and wind can cut anything. Its time to end this!"

Naruto brought his swords up, and connected the hilts together, the edges facing opposite directions.

Smirking, Naruto dropped it to the ground, where instead of bouncing off, it began to spin and sunk.

"Daiuzumaki" he yelled. Water began to pool on the ground and before they knew it, it was swirling. "Heh" Naruto said, standing on the water watching Gin getting sucked to the middle. "If you don't get knocked out by the g-forces on your body, you will by suffocation."

The last thing anyone saw was Gin's hand reaching out for air as his body sank beneath the water.

How smiling, Naruto canceled his technique and sheathed his now normal sword. "I win" he said, as he looked at the unconscious and drenched body of his opponent.

Dropping to a knee, Naruto's eyes widened as he felt stinging pain all over his body 'Damn' he thought, annoyed 'forgot about that. I'm to low on reiatsu to try a healing kido too.'

"Winner" announced Yamamoto in the captains box "Naruto Namikaze"

Cheers echoed around the arena, as shinigami applauded the man who had battled so spectacularly.

"Alright" Naruto mumbled, vision going dark already. "Looks like I won, eh Captain Shorty?" he said, seeing his friend and now fellow captain approaching.

"Che, Yeah, not bad" Toshiro replied, with a grin.

"I know" Naruto replied on the border on consciousness "I was pretty awesome huh?" he managed to spit out before finally giving in to his wounds.

"He'll be alright, right?" asked Toshiro, to the Fourth Division captain who was looking his friend over.

"Of course" Retsu replied "He is just exhausted, Once I get him the Fourth Division he should be fine in a couple of hours."

As they watched Naruto get lifted onto a stretcher and get carried away, Toshiro at the field, which was now torn to shreds and said to the air "Well, congratulations idiot, I guess you don't have to call be captain after all."

Okay, here is a recap on Naruto's, zanpakuto.

Naruto's Shikai:

Kamikaze (Divine Wind)

A katana, about three feet long, with a slightly wider than normal blade. Wind spirals around the blade and there is a two foot long ribbon at the end of hilt which flutters on its own. Guard is in the shape of the spiral and the hilt is made up of orange leather. Overall, isn't very different from appearance wise.

Attacks:

Kazekiri (Wind cutter)

Tachikaze (Earth splinting wind, or something like that)

? (There will be third move which will be shown later)

Naruto's Ban-Kai:

Kamikaze Kakounami (Divine Wind, Descending Wave)

Two Kodachi, a little under two feet in length. One hilt is light blue, the other is darker. Guard on one is in a wind like pattern and the other is a wave. Blades are a dull silver in color with a spiraling stripe of color, respective to the hilt color.

Note: Like Ichigo's blade, Naruto's is a compression type, meaning that instead of having all the energy released into the surrounding area, it is compacted into a smaller form with incredible power.

Attacks:

Kaze no Chiyaiba(One thousand blades of wind)

Rasenkaze {Spiraling Wind)

? (There will be a water type attack here)

Combine blades by hilt, edges of blades facing opposite direction:

Daiuzumaki (Great Whirlpool).

? (The final move, hasn't been decided what yet.)

–


	3. Realm of the Green Gods NarutoPJO

In the Realm of the Greek Gods : First Take

**Okay, this was actually the first Naruto/PJO story I wrote back on '08 which (I belive) would have made it the first of its kind. The writing kinda sucks though which was part of the reason I deleted it.**

The two ninja stood facing each other, one clothed in an orange jumpsuit with red chakra forming around him in the form of an one tailed fox holding what appeared to be a ball of pure energy and the other dressed in blue, two large wings sticking out of his back, his hand encompassed by lightning with the sound of chirping birds emanating from it.

The two demonic figures charged each other and within seconds had closed the gap separating the two.

With a loud cry of "CHIDORI" and "RASENGAN" they both shoved their arms forward and as they collided a huge sphere of energy surrounded the two as fate decided who would be the victor as the resulting explosion send dust and smoke flying into the sky.

As the smoke cleared an outline of a person could be seen, he was standing in front of the other, blood dripping down his eyes which turned into a three pronged figure slowly spinning in the red background.

Sasuke stood over the prone body of Naruto, he glanced around and marveled at the eyesight granted to him.

"This power" he said with a smirk "This is the power of the final stage of the Sharingan" and without sparing a second glance to bloodied figure he was standing in over he walked away in the direction of rice country and the village hidden in the sound, not even noticing the ever increasing amounts of red chakra slowly gathering around the navel of his former best friend.

Kakashi rushed through the tree tops at unbelievable speeds, he had just felt the twisted energy that had been released by the Chidori and the Rasengan as they collided and was terribly worried.

He jumped out of the forest and came upon the scene which made his blood turn cold, they valley looked like a disaster zone but what made his face pale was the figure that was lieing face down in the water slowly floating away.

Even though it was covered in blood, the unmistakable orange jumpsuit was still a prominent object which identified the figure as Naruto Uzumaki.

Kakashi jumped down to the floor of the valley and slowly walked up to the floating body, the water was stained red with all the split blood.

"No, Natuto" mumbled Kakashi looking mortified, he checked the pulse and felt none, just the cold feeling of death.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he was about to pick up the body until he felt it, as red chakra slowly covering the body he snapped his eyes open and quickly took a couple of steps back.

Then something completely unexpected happened, the chakra began to mix with the air and swirl around, sucking the body with it, Kakashi's eyes widened when the body promptly vanished, leaving only a scratched forehead protector which was previously being grasped in the left hand.

(Somewhere Else)

With a groan Naruto slowly began to sit up to see himself in front of a large cage with two huge, red, demonic eyes staring at him.

With a startled cry Naruto quickly backed up and pointed his finger at the cage and said "Why am I here, what happened."

The Kyuubi shook his head and sighed "Look brat, obviously this is your mind, you have been here before you idiot. Anyway you went and got yourself killed" this was met with a cry of "WHAT!" Kyuubi bared his fangs in annoyance and roared "Let me finish you little monkey, now where was I, ahhh yes when you got yourself killed the chakra surrounding you had nowhere to go so it entered the air causing it gain density at a tremendous rate which cause a distortion in space time. This rift sucked you across space time and into a new dimension. Now the reason you aren't dead is because when you were sucked through the rift the demonic chakra had nowhere to go except into you which jump started your regenerative ability to a hyper stimulated state which repaired your body and even brought your soul back into your body."

Naruto sat wide eyed as he heard the explanation given to him "So..." he said "How do I get back."

Kyuubi stated and him and quite simply explained "You can't."

The fox winced and a loud screech of "WHAT!" echoed into the air.

"Simple" Kyuubi started to explain "The fabric of space time isn't stable enough for another attempt to travel across without destroying both realities. Even if you could there are an infinite number of possible realities that could possible land in, one in which humans might not even exist.

Naruto just remained motionless as his head realed with the information just given to him.

"So" he mused out loud "I'm stuck here huh? What do you know about this world then"

"Well the elements are abnormally strong here and the entire earth seems to be infused with chakra, I can even taste it in the air. The land mass appears to be separated into 7 continents and the technology is far superior to your own. There also appear to be powerful beings in this world, gods of considerable power are active in this world, and while nowhere near as powerful as myself it would be inadvisable to get into a scuffle with them. These gods have also seem to have offspring who each posses a diluted form of their power."

Naruto stared blankly for a moment before blurting out "How do you know all of this" he asked.

Kyuubi just rolled his eyes like it was obvious "I am an animal spirit thus I am highly in tuned to nature which transmitted to me the basic facts about this world."

"Ohh" was the intelligent reply "Is there anything else that I should know?" asked an inquisitive Naruto.

"There also appear to be some creatures of this world that that have some lesser demon blood in them, an interesting fact is that the allude a field which makes normal people in this world to not notice them, obviously for you this won't be a problem but you should be wary none the less."

"One more question, Where am I?" Naruto asked.

"From what I can tell you are outside a strawberry farm just outside of a play called New York."

"A strawberry farm?" asked a bewildered Naruto looking at the fox dumbly.

"Yes, though there is something odd about it, it seems to be emitting an weak genjutsu field, like with the lesser demons in this world it would be enough to divert normal people but those with a higher level of energy like yourself or these half-gods there would be no effect." explained the Kyuubi.

"Interesting, so what do you think I should do?"

"I don't care, just don't go and get yourself killed again brat, now go away."

Small amounts of of red chakra began to gather around around him as Naruto was ejected from his mind.

With a groan Naruto slowly sat up and mumbled "stupid fox" under his breath.

Taking one look as his tattered clothes he sighed and thought 'Might as well find some people, maybe they can get some new clothes' and without taking a look back he headed toward the suspiciously normal strawberry farm.

As he approached he noticed a tree with what looked like a golden cloak covering it and when he crossed pass the tree he felt a slight shimmer of energy as the barrier parted to allow him entrance.

Naruto looked down into some sort valley and what he saw caused his eyes to widen slightly, in front of him as a large house, numerous cabins organized in a U shaped pattern with a magnificent golden one in front. There also appeared to be archery ranges, and even a large circular arena that looked like it might house sporting events not dissimilar from the arena that housed Kohona's finial Chunin exams.

After standing there for a few seconds taking in the magnificent sight he slowly descended down toward the large house, which he assumed would house the people living there.

As he approached the house Naruto was the focus of several pairs of eyes, as he looked around he saw several people which freaked him out slightly.

First off there were some who had the lower half of their body and looked like half-donkey to him, then there were those girls who actually walked out of the surrounding trees and then to cap it all off there were children ranging anywhere from about 9 to 18 walking around with weapons.

'Jeez is this a military camp or what?' was the thought running through his head.

In its cage Kyuubi snorted "Your should talk brat, you lived in a ninja village where children are taught the art of assassination, a number of ninja don't even make it to the age of 18."

'I didn't ask you fox, these must be those half-gods right?'

"Correct, what was the first clue, the weapons or the fact that only half-gods can enter here." was the sarcastic reply.

'Oh you know, I just know these things."

"Uggg" the fox mumbled as he retreaded farther into his cage.

Naruto smirked at his mental victory and nearly ran into a man in a wheelchair that was approaching him.


	4. The World of the Claymore NarutoClaymore

**Naruto In the World of the Claymore**

**My First Naruto/Claymore that I wrote awhile back. It conforms quite closely to the canon storyline. I might make a rewrite of it at a later date.**

Chapter I: Enter The Worlds Of The Claymore

Two figures stood facing each other, both standing on statues in a valley housing a mighty river, one waring the standard jonin uniform with spiky yellow hair and blue eyes with a intricate looking katana strapped to his back.

The other was dressed in light blue clothing shirt in the middle and black pants with a intricately tied large purple rope on his back with black hair and a pair of blood red eyes with three comma like marks in them with a sword attached to his waist.

The one with the standard jonin attire, looked at his advisory and chuckled slightly.

"Looks like it ends here for one of us, eh Sasuke" said the 18 year old Naruto Namikaze, jonin of Kohona, his eyes growing steadily colder.

"Of course it does Naruto, it ends now, today you die!" and with a final glare he charged, going at speeds all but the most experienced ninja were unable to see.

_'Indeed it does' _was Naruto's final thought before he to charged.

The two met in between the statues and even as they fell toward the water they never once let up on their assault.

They both landed gracefully onto the water and continued their struggle.

They continued to throw punches at each other for several more minutes before they both realized they were to evenly matched for there to be any clear victor.

Jumping back they both began to make hand signs at an incredible rate as cries of "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique" and "Water Style: Water Dragon Technique" were heard.

A huge fireball the size of a house and a dragon make entirely of water materialized and charged each other.

They met and exploded in a shower of superheated water, however the two battling figures were not deterred and continued to throw attacks at one another.

As the smoke from the last attack dissipated both were breathing hard and slight burns and cuts marred their bodies.

As their eyes met they both knew what the other was going to do.

Both drawing their swords they clashed, sparks flew as the clanging of metal rang throughout the valley.

Sasuke smirked as he charged his sword with lightning and swung it at the blond.

CLANG!

The two swords impacted midair, one arcing with electricity and the other glowing a peaceful blue.

"What?" Sasuke said as his eyes widened, that should have severed right threw any metal.

It was Naruto's time to smirk now, "This sword is made out of chakra absorbent metal, allowing me to infuse my chakra into the sword itself."

Sasuke jumped back and sneered "It won't matter, even if you have found a way to counter my attacks, at the end of the day you will still be dead."

He suddenly sprouted wings and his skin turned a sickly color as he his eyes began to form into a pinwheel shape.

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly _'So he's resorting to that huh' _he mused

'Yo fox' he mentally screamed 'Gimme some chakra'

Naruto hunched his back slightly as a tail of orange malicious energy formed behind him as he held his hand out and chakra slowly spiraled into a typhoon contained in a perfect purple ball with a ring of spiraling wind surrounded it, transforming into a large shuriken.

Then, as if given some kind unseen signal Naruto flicked a kunai behind Sasuke and charged at top speed, the conclusion of this epic battle was nearing.

"What kind of throw was that" Sasuke taunted "You are as weak as ever Naruto."

As they approached each other time seemed to slow as Sasuke's right eye began to bleed.

"Amaterasu " he whispered.

Black fire erupted into the air and sped toward Naruto, nothing was able to escape its destruction.

_'I hope this works.'_ thought Naruto, and before Sasuke's very eyes vanished in a flash of yellow

Naruto threw his arm forward and shouted "Rasen Shuriken " as he landed behind Sasuke, exactly where the kunai was thrown,

A sphere of intense wind surrounded the two figures as the vicious attack collided.

As the energy dissipated you could make out the outline of a person standing.

Upon closer inspection you could make you the blond hair that defined Naruto Namikaze.

Naruto took a step forward and then suddenly started coughing, as he looked at himself he could see his entire torso had burn marks, his uniform was in tatters.

_'Shoot' _He thought _'I didn't move fast enough, I still haven't mastered that move fully'_

As he fell to a knee he looked over at the mangled figure who used to be his former best friend and said "Huh, you never could just give up, eh Sasuke? You could'nt just return to the village after you completed your goal?"

Suddenly the air around Naruto swirled into a single spot as the demonic chakra was let loose into the air and began to pull things into it.

Turning around Naruto was bewildered by this event "What the..." was all he managed to say before he himself was sucked into the vortex.

(In His Mind)

Naruto slowly began to sit up to see himself in front of a large cage with two huge, red, demonic eyes staring at him.

With a barley suppressed groan Naruto looked at the cage and said "Why am I here, what happened."

Naruto relationship with the demon fox was unique to say the least, if one were to describe it they would call it a working relationship.

Once they both realized that they were stuck together they reluctantly came to a truce, where Naruto was allowed to utilize the fox's chakra and his senses were improved while the fox was able to see, hear, smell, feel and taste everything Naruto did.

Being able to have some semblance or awareness seemed to calm to the fox down quite a bit and now civil conversation was possible, they even shared a mental link.

The Kyuubi shook his head and sighed **"Well obviously this is your mind but I guess you know that. Anyway, it seems that the chakra surrounding you from your attacks the residual demon chakra had nowhere to go so it entered the air causing it gain density at a tremendous rate which cause a distortion in space time. This rift sucked you across space time and into a new dimension. Now when you were sucked through the rift the demonic chakra had nowhere to go except into you which jump started your regenerative ability to a hyper stimulated state which repaired your body. This is quite interesting, I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of life"**

Naruto sat wide eyed as he heard the explanation given to him "So..." he began "How do I get back."

Kyuubi stated and him and quite simply explained "**You can't."**

"WHAT!" said Naruto frantically "Please tell me I didn't hear you right."

**"I'm afraid you heard right, also the fabric of space time isn't stable enough for another attempt to travel across without destroying both realities. Even if you could there are an infinite number ****of possible realities possible that you could possible land in, one in which humans might not even exist."** explained Kyuubi.

Naruto groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose "So I am currently in an unknown world with unknown people with no information at all, do you know anything at all" he asked.

**"As a matter of fact I do"** said Kyuubi **"This is a very interesting world, the are a large amount of lesser demons of various power roaming around the world, they are nowhere near your level but I also sense some others, they are substantial more powerful then the others and would give the average jonin a run for their money. Finally, there are four others, they power far exceeds that of the others, they might even be able to give a few of the Tailed Beasts a run for their money. I wouldn't recommend engaging them in battle unless absolutely necessary."**

Naruto stared wide eyed at this, demons, beings who rival the Tailed Beasts in power '_What kind of world did I land myself in'_ he thought to himself.

**"Also"** continued the fox **"there are some other being who seem to be half demon, I can tell there weren't born like that way, so I can only assume then have somehow interrogated demon parts into their bodies. They will be substantially stronger then a normal human, so be careful if you have to deal with them."**

Naruto mentally filed away this information away in his brain "Anything else?" he asked.

**"Just a one more"** said Kyuubi **"The land seems to be made up of various settlements which seem to be independent, in fact there is one to the west a little bit, and one thing there seems to be one of those minor demons there so be wary. One more thing, I would be cautious in your technique usage. Humans in this world have no such abilities and it might bring unwanted attention"**

"Okay" said Naruto "Thanks for your help" and with that Naruto left his mind.

(Outside)

Naruto sat up with quickly and taking a look at himself he saw shat while his wound was indeed healed his cloths were still utterly thrashed.

Sighing he bit his finger and swiped some blood onto his seal tattoo on his forearm.

In a poof of smoke a scroll appeared in his hand, opening it he located the seal which housed his clothing and unsealed some new attire.

During his training trip with Jiraya while he was 13 Naruto had tried to learn the art of seal making.

He found he was completely hopeless, the seal tattoo on his arm was put there by Jiraya.

The only application of sealing he was able to accomplish were the Hiraishin seals, and that was only after decades worth of combined experience via Shadow Clones.

Thinking for second he swiped blood on another seal and out popped an couple of gems which he had collected during his travels.

Pocketing them, giving his equipment a once over and making sure his sword was firmly attached, he set off west in search of civilization.

(END)

Chapter II: Meetings

Naruto had been walking for a couple of hours before the village came into sight.

It was nothing spectacular, substantial smaller then the Leaf Village but larger then most of the outlaying villages in Fire Country.

As he walked into the village he heard people talking.

"It's the sixth one already."

"The last one was only three days ago."

"What are we going to do? If this goes on we will..."

Naruto walked up to someone and tapped them of the shoulder.

The man screamed and jumped about a mile in the air.

"Um excuse me" Naruto began "I was wondering if I could find a place to stay."

The man turned around " are you" he stuttered.

"Oh, I'm Naruto Namikaze, I just arrived in town, what's the commotion about anyway?" he asked.

"Well Naruto you might want to leave, there is a monster on the loose its already killed 6 here." he said frighteningly "In fact had already killed the parents and younger brother of a man named Zaki here, he was so traumatized we have only seen him a couple times since." he finshed with a shiver.

As he walked about town Naruto was able to hear voices coming from the building next to him, the most intriguing were the mention of name "Claymore" he heard people say that only they could distinguish a monster from a human.

_'Must be half demons' _Naruto mused to himself _'It would fit the description Kyuubi gave me.'_

As his train of thought finished the Claymore arrived at the village.

Naruto looked at the new arrival and was surprised _'It's a women' _he thought surprised.

She was an interesting sight, she wore heavy looking shoulder armor and a metal skirt but the most striking thing was the large double edges sword what was as long as she was, he was surprised she could wield it.

_'Then again'_ Naruto told himself _'Kyuubi did tell me their physical capabilities exceeded all humans here beside myself of course'_

"Silver Eyed Witch"

"She is half monster after all'"

"I guess we can only depend on a monster now"

These whisperings followed the Claymore, Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly, this was getting a bit to close to what he experienced in the Leaf Village for his liking.

Making up his mind fairly quickly he followed the Claymore as she strode across the village.

"Wait" shouted the man he had been talking to "what are you doing"

Naruto stopped and replied "I want to find our more about her"

"She'll kill you" he shouted fearfully

"It's my death then" was Naruto's simple reply shrugging as he continued walking.

Following the Claymore was a rather simple affair she was just walking to the other side of the village.

She suddenly turned around, sword in hand and swung it at her follower.

CLANG

Naruto had drawn his sword and was blocking the Claymore strike his arm moved back ever so slightly.

_'Huh' _he mused_ 'That hit was stronger then I expected, I guess Kyuubi was correct.'_

The Claymore on the other hand was having different thoughts.

_'He was able to block that, he didn't even give an inch, and whats up with that sword. I have never seen anything like that before, its small, yet it was able to block my blow._

"Now, Now, its now nice to attack people you don't even know yet." Naruto chided

The Claymore just scuffed, ignored him and kept walking.

_'Great another Sasuke'_ thought a slightly annoyed Naruto

They reached the other side of the Village and the Claymore asked "Is this really the end of the village, the boundary line this small?."

"Yeah, I guess" replied Naruto "I just got here myself but since there is nothing else around I would assume that it is.

"I see" the Claymore replied as she stuck here sword into the ground and sat down, using it as a backrest.

"So what is your name? I'm Naruto" he asked politely as he sat down across from her.

"Claire" was here short reply.

_'Not much of a talker then'_ thought Naruto with a slight sweat drop.

"The town is pretty tense but I guess a people dying would do that to people" Naruto said hoping to ignite conversation.

"Yoma scare people, and the appearance of us just adds to their fear" replied Claire.

"You don't seem frightening to me" said Naruto.

Claire looked at him sharply before a hint of emotion hit here eyes.

_'Is that sadness'_ Naruto thought before the look left as soon as it came.

"You are not afraid?" she asked, slightly guarded.

"I've seen more frightening things" Naruto replied "Besides I can tell a human from a demon"

"I see" she replied, then all of a sudden she stood up and left.

**"Brat"** spoke Kyuubi through their mind link.

_'Yeah'_ thought Naruto back darkly, _'I felt that too, the demon has made its move.'_

With these words Naruto too took off in the direction Claire left in.

In another part of town Claire is battling the Yuma in the middle of the street.

"So thats where you hid eh?" said Claire.

**"Ha"** said the Yoma **"You think that you can defeat me, you are only half Yoma"** it laughed.

Suddenly blood spurted from where its arm once was.

**"AHHHH"** it screamed **"Not possible, how can you be this strong"**

"Because" replied Claire "within my body resides the blood of a monster which allows me to wield this Claymore and slay Yuma like yourself."

Before Claire could deliver the final blow a door opened to reveal the same man Naruto had been talking to earlier stepping out onto the street.

"Wait, Don't" Yelled Claire but with her lapse in concentration she was batted aside and the Yuma rushed at the human, it hadn't eaten for a while and its instincts were taking over.

Claire could only watch in horror as the Yoma was about to attack the human, knowing she wouldn't be able to do anything.

Suddenly the other arm of the Yoma came flying off.

**"Wha.."** was all the Yuma was able to say before it was split cleanly in half.

The human stood there frozen in fear as the Yoma fell into two pieces.

"Whew, made it in time" Naruto said as he stepped into the street "You are one lucky man" he said as he looked at the man who was still trembling.

'_That yoma had tough skin'_ Naruto thought_ 'I had to apply wind chakra in order to slice it'_

Claire looked at Naruto with wide eyes_ 'He managed to slay the Yoma without any difficulty, who is he?'_

Regaining her calm she said "A person in black will come to collect the money" and with that she was gone.

_'Geez'_ thought Naruto _'she's a friendly one'._

As people began to fill out onto the streets he noticed the looks of distrust and fear.

He sighed _'I guess I better leave too'_

"Well I'm off then" he said and disappeared.

(Four days later)

_'Idiot' _Naruto screamed at himself for the millionth time.

_'How do you, a jonin level ninja get lost in a desert, and worst of all you lost the trail of Claire'_ he kept berating himself as he stumbled through the desert.

H was preparing to leave the small village to track down the Claymore, to his shame he had gotten sidetracked by his stomach, which was making it known it was running on empty.

When he had finished eating he had lost the trail and trying a random direction didn't help later.

Now, he found himself in the middle of a desert with no sense of direction and he had already used up his supply of food and water hunting Sasuke down throughout the country.

_'Shoot'_ he thought _'I can only stave off dehydration by cycling chakra through by body for so long. I'm still not in top form either'_

"Gah" he said as he attempted to cover his face.

_'And now the wind is picking up, wonderful'_ he thought sarcastically.

Sighing he tied a piece of cloth in front of his fact to prevent swallowing several pounds of sand.

_'Wait, whats that'_ he thought as he thought he saw the outline of a person.

Squinting his eyes slightly he saw the outline of a person with a large sword strapped to their back.

"Who are you" he yelled out.

Just as he was about to hear the response another burst of wind picked up a large, nearby rock and it came careening into his head.

_'Ah crap'_ was all Naruto was able to think before he fell in to blissful unconsciousness.

Chapter III: Revelations

Naruto opened his eyes and quickly sat up in the bed he was laying on.

_'Wha..' _he thought _'I'm in a bed, how did I get here.'_

He thought back to the last thing he remembered and recalled being hit in the head by the rock

_'Idiot'_ he scolded himself again _'How could you get yourself knocked out by a rock.'_

_'Hmm' _He thought_ 'I wonder who brought be here?'_

Just then the door opened to reveal a middle aged man smiling kindly.

"Oh, your awake already?" he said "You are very lucky, you almost died out there."

"Here" he said holding our some bread and fruit "You need to regain your strength."

"Thanks" said Naruto taking a bit "I'm afraid I don't have any money though, I have some gems, if you would be willing to trade."

The man puts his hands up "No need young man, the room and food has already been paid for."

"Really?" asked Naruto raising an eyebrow "Who did that."

"It was" here the man paused for a second to add dramatic flair "the Siver Eyed Witch."

"Who would have thought on the them would have saved your life and then paid for your stay" the man continued.

"Excuse me" Naruto said as he interrupted the mans speech "but where can I find this women?"

"Not sure, try looking around town" the man suggested.

"Okay, thanks for the room" he said, finishing off the food he jumped off the bed and took off from the room.

"Kids these days" mumbled the man after Naruto had left "No patience at all."

Naruto ran out of the building and searched all over town and came up empty handed.

_'So it had to be Claire there'_ he mused _'I wonder what she was doing in the desert'_

Just as he was about to give up a voice reached his ears.

"You there, the one with the blond hair."

Naruto turned around to see a man slightly older then himself approaching him.

"Yeah" Naruto replied.

"Your that person the Claymore brought in, she's looking for you" he stated.

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly "She's looking for me?" he asked.

"Yeah" the man replied "she went into the forest earlier."

Nodding to the man Naruto gave a quick "thank you" and started toward the forest in question.

Walking through the forest Naruto immediately became tense.

_'The foliage is so thick, this is a perfect place for an ambush. Not only that but I sense another one of those Yoma here.'_

Keeping his senses on high alert, Naruto came across a clearing and standing there was what appeared to be a Claymore.

_'Hmmm its not Claire' _Naruto concluded _'Wait a second, that feeling, its the Yoma.'_

Keeping his outward appearance calm he approached the "Claymore."

"So you saved me, why?" asked Naruto.

The so called Claymore took a couple of steps closer and said** "Oh you know as soon as I laid eyes on ****you I fell in love."**

"Is that so" said Naruto with a small smile.

Then, in a flash he drew his sword and with tremendous speed he swung it at the Claymore impostor.

The Yoma's eyes widened and quickly jumped back but not before Naruto's sword made a shallow cut across its torso.

As its features turned back back to its demonic appearance it snarled **"How did you know?"**

Naruto smirked slightly and replied "I have my ways."

After regaining some composure the Yoma charged at an impressive speed readying its claws to strike.

Naruto remained calm and prepared to strike.

As the Yoma neared Naruto Claire suddenly emerged from the trees in front of him and took a fist through the stomach.

Taking hold of the Yoma's arm, Claire brought herself and Yoma down the slope into free fall.

Naruto just stood there in shock "Claire" he whispered.

_'Why did she do that. I had it under control, she should know I can handle myself._' he thought angrily.

He looked down the slope just in time to see the Yoma's head go flying from its body.

Claire roughly pulled out its severed arm out of here body with a sickly squelching sound.

_'Ouch' _Naruto winced _'That had to hurt.'_

Jumping down he landed a few feet away from the blood spattered women.

Looking at her he couldn't help but whistle slightly, the wound was closing at a rate which shouldn't be possible.

_'Impressive regeneration power'_ Naruto noted _'That would have easily killed a normal person'_

"Why did you do that" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Don't misunderstand" Claire explained "I only did that to slay the Yoma, you had nothing to do with it."

Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance and said "I had it under control."

"Maybe but it is my job to slay Yoma" Claire replied "though I am curious as to how you were able to tell that was a Yuma, only one of us should be capable of that" she asked with a piercing stare.

_'Shoot'_ Naruto thought _'Think of a something quick.'_

"Well" Naruto began "I didn't see her with a sword like yours and I was pretty sure it was you who brought me here so I assumed that she wasn't a Claymore" he explained.

"I see..." Claire trailed off.

"I suppose I should thank you for saving my life in the desert, I owe you one" said Naruto with a nod.

"That is not necessary, I must be going." and she turned heel and left.

_'What a cheerful person'_ thought an irritated Naruto.

After a day of walking Claire made a fire and stared into it for several seconds before saying "Are you going to continue to follow me" into the trees.

Naruto walked into view "So you noticed me huh." although it was more of a statement than a question.

Claire closed here eyes and said "Of course I did, once again I ask, are you going to continue to follow me?"

Naruto took at seat opposite Claire and chuckled slightly "True enough, I didn't think trying to sneak up on you would be a great idea" he said "As for you question then the answer is yes, I said I owe you a favor and I never go back on my word." he said with a small smirk.

Claire rolled here eyes slightly "Che, Fine then, just don't get into my way."

Naruto gave her a big smile "See was that so hard" he asked light heartily.

Claire began to get up "I will be right back, don't follow."

Naruto raised his eyebrows at this.

_'I sense another presence in her direction, Oh well she obviously knows who it is, I won't worry about it.'_

(Elsewhere in the forest)

Claire walked into the woods and standing there was a man dressed completely in black, from shoe to hat.

"Why do you have someone with you?" he asked.

"He seems to think he owes me a favor" she relied.

"Be that as it may, he will only interfere with your work." he said condescendingly.

"He seems adamant about following me, he also is capable of slaying Yuma, however I will make sure he stays out of my way." she replied.

"Oh" the man said surprised "he can slay Yuma can he, an interesting individual indeed. Not impossible, but rare one would be able to stand up to one without fear."

"Yes" Clare replied "Did you bring it?" she said abruptly.

"Yes, Yes" the man replied tossing a new uniform to the ground "It's brand new."

Claire undressed and the man inspected the wound.

"Your insane" he said suddenly "even with your super human healing capabilities you can still die with a wound like that."

Claire just ignored him and put her new uniform on.

The man suddenly chuckled softly "I wonder what that man would do if he saw your body" he began "remember curiosity has its limits, if you get to attached you'll just be crushed."

"Ah that's right" he said as if he just remembered "I brought you something" as he held what looked like a letter in between two fingers."

Shock showed on Claire's face "A black letter?" she said, shocked.

"Yes" the man in black said "seems someone has become a tad unreliable, you can read the details."

Throwing here the letter at here the man slowly melded back into the shadows.

(Back with Naruto)

Oblivious to the conversation going on just a couple hundred feet away Naruto was slowly getting bored as he munched on a piece of dried meat he had found in his pocket

_'Wait' _he thought_ 'How could I not think this, I could use summons to communicate with back home.'_

**"Don't bother trying"** came the deep demonic voice he had learned years ago to get used to.

_'What?'_ he though astonished '_Why Not? I can tell them what happened to me'_

Kyuubi sighed slightly **"Look brat it will not work. The summons were allowed to enter your world because there was a unique chakra gateway connecting the two worlds. The summons were able to use this to get to your world and there they created the summoning contracts which the gifted to the people they thought most worthy. In summoning you use blood and chakra as a sacrifice to call upon variously powered animals who then allow you to command them to a certain extent. The chakra used is merely used to activate this gateway and the summoned beast can come forth. Unfortunately there is no such gateway to this world so the technique would do absolutely nothing."**

Naruto gritted his teeth _'Is there really no way to even tell then I am alright?'_

**"Nope"** came the reply **"Time and space are complicated things, it might even be better off this way, call it a fresh start"**

_'I guess'_ was Naruto's slightly sad response.

The rustling of leaves made him turn slightly to see Claire coming into view.

"I am going into the mountains tomorrow, If you plan to keep following me you better be prepared to wake up early." Claire said as she settled onto the ground and feel asleep.

"Okay" was all Naruto said as he to fell into a peaceful slumber.

As the sun rose the next day Naruto stirred from his sleep, stretched quickly and rose.

_'Ouch'_ he thought as various joints cracked and popped _'The ground is killer on the back'_

He looked around and saw Claire putting out what remained of the fire, preparing to leave.

She looked up and said "Oh, your up? we are leaving then."

As they trekked up the mountain Naruto became more aware of the feeling of uneasiness washing over him.

_'I sense quite a bit of power, its substantially larger then those other Yoma but its fluctuating like someone is trying to hold it back.'_ Naruto thought with confusion.

"Are we killing a Yoma today" he asked.

"No" was the absent response.

_'Hmm... she's not all there, something is on here mind.'_ he deduced with narrowed eyes.

"So, just going for a morning hike" he said with a smile.

Claire stopped for a second before looking at him.

"No, this mission is to kill what you know as a Claymore." she said without any emotion.

Naruto nearly tripped as he heard this "" he stuttered.

_'Kill on of their own'_ he thought horrified.

"You must understand" Claire said softly "We are half monster, we use the intelligence granted to us by our human half to control the monster half. Simply put we are human in a monsters body. Because of this we are humanity's best weapons against the Yoma. However the thing is, a half Yoma can turn into a monster."

_'Become a monster'_ thought Naruto horrified, that was his worst fear, to lose control and become nothing more than a blood thirsty killer.

"You see" Claire continued "As we fight we draw upon the monsters power. Doing this weakens our human half as the two halves battle for dominance. If the human half losses then monster can take over and you will become a monster. To counter this the organization has a system, this" she said holding up the black letter "is a black letter."

"This" Naruto began looking at the symbol on the letter _'It looks like the symbol on her neck and sword. I merely thought it was the mark of her organization, but it must be a personal identification because this one is slightly different.'_

"Yes" Clair responded "When we become what you call Claymore, we are assigned a symbol to identify one another." she paused as the unscrewed the hilt of sword to reveal a rolled black letter "As you see, each of our swords contains a letter. We all know there we come a time when we will lose control so we give the letter to the person we cherished most in so they can kill us while we are still human." she finished.

_'So harsh'_ Naruto thought '_How can the live like this?'_

"So then this card is from someone you knew then?" he asked a bit hesitantly.

"Her name is Elena" Claire replied looking down "We joined the organization at around the same time, we cheered when things got tough for each other and helped each other through the pain of becoming half monster and."

She was cut off the the sound of footsteps approaching them.

Naruto swiveled around to see the newcomer, she looked similar to Claire with longer hair and a larger forehead.

He noticed the symbol on here neck and sword and thought _'So that must be Elena then.'_

Elena looked at Claire and smiled slightly "Long time no see, Claire" she said.

"Elena" Claire responded "You haven't changed, its just like old times."

"Even if it was a long time ago it still feels like yesterday" said Elena wistfully "Even though I should only remember painful times, when I think of you I cannot help but recall happy times. It's a bit sad though, I started later later than you I seem to have lost my spirit sooner, I'm such a loser. I had always thought that with the power of a monster I could get stronger, but with the power of a monster you must have an equally strong will. So please kill me now while I still have human heart." she finished with a smile as veins started bulging on her face.

Claire looked at her for a second before rushing forward and stabbing her through the heart.

"Thank you" Elena said as she fell forward "for allowing be to die as a human, rather than as a monster."

Claire looked toward Naruto, who was standing there with an unreadable expression on his face.

"For my favor I would like to ask you help be bury here" she requested softly.

Naruto closed his eyes for a second before replying "That doesn't count as a favor, I would have done it anyway."

_'Besides' _he added mentally _'Traveling with you is interesting.'_

With a thud the sword of the deceased Claymore was planted into the ground acting as a headstone.

Claire stood looking at the grave for a few minutes before she began to speak "Elena and I joined the organization at the same time. When things got tough we cheered each other on and when the pain became unbearable we comforted each other. Most importantly for was the fact that she was the first and only friend in my life." she finished still looking at the grave.

Naruto sighed heavily and looked up into the sky "Why" he asked.

Claire looked at him curiously "Why what?"

"Why do you fight?" he asked more specifically "If you didn't, then she would be alive still, why must you fight?"

Claire looked down at the grave again and replied "Because its the reason we exist."

Naruto looked at here and thought '_If asked that same question many ninja would give the same answer, it seems this world is not so dissimilar to my own after all."_

–

Chapter VI: Into The Holy City

Naruto looked at the city gates, they were indeed impressive circling the entire city at a height of over twenty feet.

_'So this is the Holy City of Rabona, seems nice enough'_ he thought

Looking over to his left he saw Claire, she was wearing a long cloak, which covered her entire body with a large hood.

He had ditched his jonin uniform in favor of an ordinary pair of pants and shirt with a similar cloak and attached to his back was a large wrapped package.

_'This mission just screams trouble'_ he thought.

Thinking back he remembered the conversation he had been apart of a few days ago.

(Flashback)

It was the night after Elena had been buried, they had set up camp when Naruto's sense picked up something.

_'That presence, its the same one from a couple of days ago.'_ he thought.

Out from the darkness a man walked out, Naruto noticed that he wore all black and seemed to be part of the shadows.

"Ah Claire, I was hoping to find you here, and your friend is here also, wonderful." he said cheerfully.

"What do you want Rubel?" Claire asked.

The man, now identified as Rubel chuckled slightly "Now, Now is that anyway to greet a friend?"

He suddenly turned serious "There has been a mission request in the city of Rabona."

Claire looked at him surprised "The Holy City?"

"Correct, they want you to hunt down an Yoma that appeared there." he said with a nod.

Claire however looked confused "But..Rabona."

"Yes, they despise all things they deem unnatural, including half yoma, which is why you will need these." he said tossing here a small pack.

Claire opened the pack and three pills popped out.

Staring at them she looked at Rubel questioningly.

"Ahh, you are unfamiliar with those, well they might not seem like much but they will suppress your powers, allowing your eyes to return to normal color." Rubel explained. "You will be able to blend right in, unfortunately you will also lose all ability to sense yoma. So you'll have to search for it the old fasion way, anything else you need is in the pack."

Claire took all of this in and stated at the pills in here hand.

"In fact" continued Rubel "you can even pretend your friend here is your boyfriend to appease any suspicion."

"What?" Naruto asked, finally getting in of the conversation.

"Was this why I was chosen" Claire asked totally ignoring Naruto "to take advantage of this?"

"We just chose the best person for the job, just try to act like nice young lady." Rubel replied with a smirk.

Naruto never did like being ignored so he had to add in his two cents "Yo, creepy guy in black, does no one care what I think" he said exasperatedly.

Both Claire and Rubel turned and stared at him intently.

"If you wish to leave it is of no consequence to me." Claire stated.

"Yes, Yes," said Rubel "Leave if you like, though it would be unfortunate if Claire would die before she even reached the Yoma."

"Fine, Fine" Naruto grumbled _'If you put it like that.'_

"Also" added Rubel "You will need to hide your swords, they do not allow weapons into the city."

(End Flashback)

As they entered the city Naruto noticed the abundance of people roaming about, the city was teaming with life.

_'This is unlike any other town I have seen so far'_ he thought, and indeed it was, Rabona was at least five or six times as large as any other he had seen thus far.

They went into an inn, which from outside, looked ordinary, if not a little rundown.

"Hello" said a man at the counter "Welcome to the cheapest inn in Rabona, would you like a room."

"Yes Please" Naruto said smiling, as he stepped forward "Me and my girlfriend are traveling, so of course we had to stop in the Holy City."

"Oh," said the man surprised, "Okay then, a double room it is."

As he searched for the keys he tried to start up a conversation "So, you are traveling around, it must be tough."

"No, not really" Claire replied "I sell antiques my father left for me"

"Eh, antiques?" asked the man.

"Oh yes" replied Claire "he was quite fond of them, in fact this is the only one left."

Naruto unwrapped the package on his back to show a exquisite statue that showed two statues back to back "Its a statue of Teresa and Claire from the Runoa period by Auguste."

The man's eyebrows rose slightly "It is quite nice, how much?"

Claire smiled and responded "ten million baras."

The mans eyes buldged and he chocked slightly "T. Million?" he asked astonished.

Regaining some composure he said "I think he was having you on young lady."

"Yes" replied Claire smiling softly "My boyfriend said the same thing but since I am selling his things I use the prices he gave."

"Is that so" said the man "I should shut up then."

Handing over an object he said "Here are you room keys, that will be ten baras please."

Claire handed over the money, bowed slightly and thanked the man.

Finding the correct room Naruto opened the doors and was pleasantly surprised.

There were two beds, it had a fireplace and a dresser, all in all very nice.

"It's pretty nice" he remarked.

"Even though they may have hit hard times, its still a Holy City, they have appearances keep up."

Naruto nodded absently while thinking _'Still, they don't seem to be worried, they almost seem in denial about the yoma.'_

He gazed over at Claire and saw her staring out the window with a slightly slickly look.

"Are you okay" he asked, concerned.

Claire brought her head up "I'm fine" she assured "my body is just adjusting to the yoma suppressing pills."

"We should head out" she continued "we only don't have much time."

"That's a good idea" replied Naruto "Plus it should be fun to look around."

As the neared the door the exit the building the man who checked them in spotted them.

"Leaving so soon." he asked.

"Yes" Naruto replied quickly "We want to make sure we are able to take in all the sights, you know."

"Is that were we are going" Naruto asked pointed to a large building in the center of town.

"Yes" Claire responded "That is Rabona Cathedral, we need to find Father Vincent."

As they walked through the Cathedral Naruto noticed the abundance of people praying 'Befitting, it is a Holy City' he mused.

As there were about to walk through an archway, a guard barred their path "Ahead is the baptismal hall, it is restricted from the public."

"Its Okay" Claire replied "We came here to be baptized" as she handed the guard a what looked like a pendant.

Taking a look at it the guard replied "This represents that you have completed the Pilgrims Journey, you may continue on."

As they walked into the hall Naruto noticed all of the caskets lining the hallway.

_'They keep their dead here? They must have been pretty important'_ he thought.

_'I can sense the presence of a yoma but it had released so much energy it has saturated the entire building, I can't pinpoint it'_ thought Naruto with a frown_ 'Plus sensing has never really been my forte.'_

"You there" said a voice directed at them.

Naruto turned and saw a man wearing fancy robes.

"If you are here to be baptized, please come here" he said.

"Are you father Vincent?" asked Claire as she knelt down.

"Yes" he said "I baptize you in the name of our lord. What is your name."

"It is Rimuto, I come from the land of Sutafu" replied Claire, not even looking up.

Father Vincent's went wide with realization "Then..You..Are?"

Before he could finished he was interrupted by Claire "Please keep your voice down and continue."

Father Vincent nodded and lowed his mouth closer to Claire's ear and whispered "Let's meet later tonight in the south room in the top tower, there is a curfew so it might be hard for you to make it."

"It is fine, leave it to me." Claire replied.

Father Vincent stood back up as he said "You are now baptized, go forth with the mercy of out lord and forget not the modesty of a child of our lord.:

"Thank you Father Vincent" said Claire as she bowed.

Walking back over to where Naruto was observing she said "Let's go."

Turning their backs they left the cathedral without saying another word.

Night had descended upon Rabona as the door of their room opened to reveal the innkeeper.

"Have you finished your dinner?" he asked.

"Yeah" Naruto replied "It was really good."

"Good, I'm glad I gave you an extra portion." he replied with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks" said Naruto smiling back.

"Now remember" said the man more seriously "there is a curfew enforced so do not go wondering off okay."

"Of course" Naruto responded "We were just getting ready to retire anyway."

As soon as the door closed Claire whipped off her cloak and said "I'm going out. Close the doors and windows and if anyone come in pretend to be asleep."

Before Naruto could say a word the had already jumped out of the window.

_'Jeez'_ Naruto thought _'Lets ask what I want to do why don't you.'_

Closing and locking the door he put his hands in a cross like pattern he said.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

In a poof of smoke appeared a perfect copy of himself.

"Close the windows after me and pretend to be asleep" he commanded the copy.

"Yes sir" said the Shadow Clone with a salute.

Without any more deliberation Naruto sped out the window after CLaire.

Following Claire was simple enough, jumping rooftops was second nature to him, Naruto had been doing it for years.

Seeing Claire rope herself in Naruto stealthy evaded past the guards without a problem.

_'Sure they are attentive, but they are nowhere near the level of the ANBU back home'_ he mused.

In no time he arived at the base of the tower he saw Claire enter.

_'So all the way up eh'_ he thought as he looked up.

Applied Chakra to his feet Naruto began the seemingly impossible feat of walking vertically straight up the tower.

Arriving near the window just in time to hear Claire reveal that she was responding for the request sent by Rabona he decided to hide himself.

Catapulting himself over the window ledge and into the shadows he landed without a sound and listened in on the conversation.

_'Heh' _he thought _'This should be interesting, I should be able to gather some more information too.' _he mused.

"The first to die was Father Van" Father Vincent's voice interrupted his thoughts as he saw Claire and Father Vincent sitting down.

Now paying full attention to the pair he heard the next part of the conversation "Since then my colleagues have fallen one by one, and since each had occurred in the cathedral none of this can be made public."

_'This yoma must be fairly intelligent'_ Thought Naruto _'It must have known that if it stayed in the cathedral it would enjoy a level of freedom it wouldn't have anywhere else.'_

So engrossed in his thoughts Naruto barley registered the words as she explained that yoma treated all victims equally.

"Please I beg of you" Father Vincent's voice once again brought him out of his thoughts "I don't want to die. I will pay you anything you want but I just do not want to die so horribly like those before me."

"Keep the money" Claire said.

"What?" asked Father Vincent as he looked up.

"After words someone will be sent to collect the money, pay them then, however if I happen to die there will be no reason to pay." finished Claire ominously.

_'Dramatic much?'_ Thought Naruto.

"Even though i'm here I am unable to sense the yoma, chances are I will die here." she concluded.

_'I better make myself known'_ thought Naruto seeing the conversation going south.

Jumping out of the shadows he landed with a thump onto the floor.

Both Claire and Father Vincent jumped out of their feet and turned around as fast as possible.

"Yo" said Naruto lazily.

"No need to worry about dying Claire" he said seriously "I will die before I let that happen."

Claire narrowed her eyes "What are you doing here, I thought I told you to to stay in the room in case someone came looking"

Naruto rolled his eyes slightly "I took care of it don't worry, besides it gets boring without you there."

Claire blinked for a second before she turned around to address Father Vincent but Naruto thought he saw the edge of her cheeks with a slight pink tint.

'Did she just blush' he asked himself, bewildered.

"Fine, if that's all then we will take out leave." bowing slightly she slipped back out the window.

Sighing and with a slight shake of his head Naruto took off after her.

Trailing slightly behind Claire, Naruto ears twitched as he heard the sound of projectiles approaching.

Jumping in front in the path of them, Naruto, using lightning quick moments snatched all three of the knives out of the air and threw two of them back at the assailant.

Hearing a thunk he looked and saw that they had impacted a chimney.

The displacement of air reached his ears, he brought the final knife up and blocked a large sword that was on a course to split him in half.

Looking up Naruto caught sight of the swordsman, he was wearing full plate armor and using a large double edged sword.

"You are breaking curfew wondering you at this time of night." he said, as Naruto jumped back "You can only blame yourself if you are mistaken for yoma."

Chuckles came out from the chimney where Naruto had thrown the knives.

A man was shorter than the first, wearing leather armor, and twirling more knives in his hand came into sight.

"He's good" he remarked "not only did he block your sword, but he actually managed to catch my knives."

_'Catching my knives is no small feat though' _he thought _'what is he.'_

"I try" said Naruto lightheartedly.

With a cry the swordsman starting attacking Naruto again while the other began throwing more knives at Claire.

Swiftly dodging and blocking both Claire and Naruto had no problem with the attack.

_'What are they'_ both the swordsman and the knife thrower thought _'How can they be this strong and quick.'_

While in their stupor, Naruto and Claire took the opportunity to take off into the night.

"Wait" the knife thrower shouted as he prepared to give chase.

"Stop" said the other man holding his arm out "Don't bother, didn't you see, they far outclassed us." he finished grimly.

As they raced toward the inn Naruto sent his Shadow Clone a mental command to dispel itself.

Once arriving at the inn Naruto stretched out his arms and gave a sigh.

"That was fun, its good to get the blood flowing" he remarked.

_'Still' _he thought '_Humans in this world are pitiful.'_

"I'm going to bed" he said. "See you in the morning."

Flopping onto the bed he almost immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter V:Yoma Hunting

The sun rose the next day, and Naruto was getting out of bed.

Looking over he saw Claire sitting next to the window.

"Did you even sleep?" he asked.

"A bit" she replied "We only need a couple of hours of sleep."

Taking a closer look Naruto rose his eyebrows slightly "You eye color is back" he said, questioningly.

"Yes" Claire replied "The suppressing pills only last for half a day, so when they wear off I have to take another."

"So" Naruto began "The yoma is in the cathedral."

As Claire was about to respond the doors came crashing open and several soldiers came in.

"Don't Move, we are searching for yoma" the lead soldier shouted.

Naruto glanced over at Claire and saw that she had put her hood down.

"Two mutilated soldiers were found in the cathedral last night" he said. "Come with us."

"Yeah" came another voice "they were about that height"

Naruto looked and saw the two men that attacked them last night

_'Shoot'_ he thought _'I hope they don't recognize us.'_

"Didn't you two arrive in town yesterday" he asked.

"Yes we did" Naruto replied "We are traveling and we wished to see the Holy City. Though if this is how you treat guests, I must admit I am less than impressed." he finished growing colder.

"Sid, Galk" another man asked "weren't you two suppose to guard the cathedral last night?"

"Yeah Yeah" said the man who was identified as Sid said "I'm not saying that the two people I saw last night were yoma, but to catch my knives, it would only be possible for a silver eyed witch." and as he finished he tore the hood off of Claire head.

He found himself looking into completely normal eyes.

"Oh" he said surprised.

He grabbed her face and said "Still, we fought a half monster, it wouldn't be surprising if they could change their eye color."

Sid gasped as an intense pressure clamped down in his wrist, the cracking of bones was heard as everyone looked over and saw Naruto with his hand firmly holding on to the wrist.

"You shouldn't touch people without their permission" Naruto said menacingly.

"You" Sid snarled as he reached for knives.

His action was stopped by the other man who had attacked them.

"Galk" Sid said questioningly.

"We are done here" he said firmly "Sorry for taking up your time"

Turning his back, he and the rest of the soldiers left the room, but not without a glare from Sid.

"Well that was interesting" Naruto said dryly.

"Why did you stop him" Claire asked "It didn't endanger out mission so the action was unnecessary."

Naruto rolled his eyes "he needed a lesson in personal space, I wouldn't want someone grabbing my face."

Back in the cathedral Claire was receiving updates from Father Vincent.

"Two gaurds were killed yesterday, that's five this week alone, all of them have had their insides eaten out" he informed.

"Five" Claire repeated surprised "it seems you have a voracious appetite on you hands."

"A voracious appetite?" Father Vincent asked.

"They are older yoma, normally a yoma will only each once every one or two weeks but as it grows older it gains strength and cunning and its appetite increases. They are called voracious eaters" she explained. "It knows only we can see them and we cannot normally enter the Holy City, so it is protected here."

"I need to know who was present in the cathedral for all of the attacks." Claire said.

"That won't be hard" Father Vincent replied "The cathedral has been on lock down, so no could enter."

As he finished listing off the names of those who were present on the inside Claire said "Be careful around those people."

"What" said Father Vincent shocked "surly they cannot be one of them, I trust all of them with my life."

"It matters not" Claire explained "yoma can disguised themselves as family members and no one would be any more aware."

As they were leaving Naruto couldn't help but feel like something wrong.

_'There is something else here, I just can't place it.'_ he thought. '_Something just doesn't feel right.'_

Later that night both Naruto and Claire were were jumping of the rooftops on their way back to the cathedral.

Behind a wall two men were standing there and watching the two jump across the rooftops.

"It must be those two" said Sid "lets go get them."

As Naruto and Claire reached another roof top they were once again confronted by the two soldiers.

"Oh" Naruto said "You two again, couldn't just give up after the thrashing we gave you?"

As the wind picked up the hoods of both Naruto and Claire cloaks came flying up.

Both Sid's and Galk's eyes widened as they caught sight of Clare's silver eyes

"Ho Ho" Sid exclaimed "Your eyes are silver now, even your face it different from this morning."

Claire looked down, drew two long curved knives and said "I'm sorry but I don't have time for you, if you get in my way I won't hold back"

Naruto following her example flicked his wrists and two kunai with rope attached to the circular pommel fell into his hand.

"Heh" Sid smirked "You have the aura of a monster even though you are only a half breed, in accordance to the law you and your partner must be eliminated."

As they both charged Naruto smirked and said "I got the knife thrower."

Sid threw three knives and Galk brought his sword down in a vicious slash.

Parrying the knives with ease Naruto threw one of this kunai and it hit its mark in Sid's shoulder.

"AHHH" he yelled as blood spurted out of the wound.

Naruto flicked his wrist and brought the now bloody kunai back into his hand.

"You'll have to try better then that" Naruto taunted.

Claire was having an equally easy time in dispatching here advisory.

Galk gritted his teeth in frustration.

_'Nothing I can do works, how can she block so easily.'_ he thought.

Both Naruto and Claire jumped back further away on the other side of the roof.

"So this" Galk sais fearfully "Is a silver eyed witch, A claymore."

"Sid" he suddenly shouted as he caught sight of his comrade.

"That man" Sid managed to get out through the pain "He is not ordinary, his power and accuracy far exceeds even mine."

"They" he continued "are monsters"

A inhuman scream permeated the night air.

"It's coming from the cathedral" Galk yelled.

By the time he was finished both Naruto and Claire were sprinting off in the direction of the scream.

"Damn" Sid swore "After them."

Both Naruto and Claire sped past the guards amidst cries of "What" and "Who was that" and went deeper into the cathedral.

Claire knelt down next to a fallen solider and said "His insides have been eaten, this is the work of a voracious eater"

"Watch Out" Naruto yelled as the huge figure materialized behind here.

Quickly spinning about and jumping back Claire narrowly avoided being smashed to bits.

"Tt's huge" Naruto muttered, and indeed it was, standing over eight feet tall it towered over both of them.

Three knives suddenly impacted in the yoma shoulder.

"What is that?" a voice rang out.

"Its a yoma" another frantically answered.

Turning around Naruto caught sight of Sid and Galk again.

_'Can't those two just give up' _he thought frustratingly.

"Get out of here" Claire yelled "You're no match for it."

Unfortunately the warning was to late, the yoma was already charging the two soldiers.

"Shoot" Naruto muttered as he moved in front of them and prepared for the inevitable strike.

_'What the'_ he thought as another figure moved in front of him.

With a huge roar the yoma struck and in a spray of blood a body fell to the floor.

"Claire" Naruto yelled out as he realized who it was.

The yoma charged again, only this time to met a kunai to its right eye.

Naruto flicked his wrist and the kunai returned to his hand.

_'Shoot'_ Naruto thought_ 'Kunai won't cut it, but I don't want to show my jutsu yet.'_

With fast reflexes Naruto kicked away Sid as the yoma punched the ground where he had been standing causing an explosion of debris.

Bringing up his kunai he stabbed at the head of the yoma, only to meet resistance in the form of an arm.

Galk stood up and took a defensive position, sword in hand.

"Stop, shouted Claire "Just get out of here"

With a mere swish of its hand the sword in Galk's hand shattered.

Extending its figures, the yoma aimed the strike at the soldiers face.

Using her remaining knife Claire was able to pin the arm to the floor before the fatal strike to connect.

What she didn't expect was for the other arm to swing around, extending its fingers and spearing her through the chest.

"Claire" Naruto yelled again as he swung his kunai and severed the arm holding here.

The yoma gave a roar and turned its attention to Naruto.

The doors of the room opened suddenly and a dozen or so soldiers came in.

The yoma gave them a look before disappearing back into the darkness.

_'Shoot'_ Naruto thought _'Without my sword and jutsu those things are hard to take out, they are to tough for hand to hand combat but I don't think revealing my abilities yet would be a good idea.'_

Turning around Naruto saw the swordsman picking up Claire.

"What do you think you are doing" he asked with narrowed eyes.

Galk looked over at him and replied "I owe her my life, I am just taking her to get treated."

Naruto saw the sincerity in his eyes and nodded, relaxing his guard "I'm coming to then" he said.

Galk nodded and replied "of course."

An hour later Naruto was sitting by Claire's side as she lay in a bed somewhere in the cathedral.

"Will she be alright" he asked Father Vincent.

"I don't know" he replied "I don't know anything about her physiology so all I could do is bandage the wounds."

"I see" Naruto trailed off.

"I don't see why you care" said Sid making himself known "It's just monsters killing monsters."

A second later he found himself pined to a wall with a hand firmly around his throat.

Naruto was holding him off the ground in an impressive display of strength, rage firmly set in his eyes.

"Don't say anything more" he growled in a slightly demonic voice "I don't see you doing anything to eradicate the yoma, she risked here life to save your butt." shoving him into the wall for good measure he let him drop to the floor.

Scrambling to his feet Sid fled the room at top speed.

Sitting down by here side Naruto said softly "Hope you get better soon Claire."

(Two Days Later)

Claire blearily opened her eyes as she took in her surroundings.

"So your up" said Naruto.

Claire turned her head to face him "How long have I been out?" she asked.

"Two days" Naruto replied.

The door opened and Father Vincent walked into the room.

"Good, she's awake" he said.

"Father Vincent" Claire said as she sat up "I am sorry for troubling you."

"No, no trouble" he replied "We are just happy to see you well."

"Naruto here has been waiting two days straight" he said.

"I see" Claire said "Father Vincent, I would like to make a request."

"A request?" he asked.

"Yes" Claire replied "I would like you to gather all people in the cathedral, so I can search for the yoma."

An hour later Claire stood by Father Vincent as he explained to the gathered people their purpose for gathering.

"Yoma" someone exclaimed "You expect me to believe that there is monster here?"

"This is the only thing I can think of" Father Vincent said "You have all noticed the deaths that have been occurring at night, we should have done this when it started."

"But who would recognize one" someone shouted out "No human can sense the monsters."

As if it was her signal Claire stepped forward and lowered her hood.

Gasps were heard throughout the building as muttering of "Silver Eyed Witch" were heard.

"Father Vincent, how could you bring this abomination here" someone yelled.

"I will take full responsibility for my actions, but please just cooperate." he said.

Claire went around the room looking at people trying to determine the identity of the yoma.

As she finished the people she thought 'That only leaves one person.'

She closed in on Farther Vincent and said "I am sorry, but even if you are the one who sent in the request to the organization you are still suspect."

As she concentrated her eyes widened _'He's not the one either, whats going on here.'_ she thought frantically.

_'A yoma can change its shape into any human shape regardless of gender or size. Wait could that also mean a dead body.'_ she thought wildly.

In the baptismal hall Naruto could be seen wondering about.

_'While Claire's plan certainly seems like the logical solution, every time I am in here I don't feel quite right.'_ he thought.

While he was thinking a mummy came out of a casket behind him.

Swiveling fast Naruto drew his kunai and blocked the arm in a course to his head.

_'Shoot'_ he thought _'So that's why it never felt right here. The yoma was impersonating a dead body but since it was suppose to be dead it cut its energy output to near zero.'_

Back flipping he slid into a defensive stance.

As the yoma charged again Naruto took the statue from his back and place it in from of the incoming strike.

As the statue shattered he grabbed hold of something inside and felt the familiar feel of his katana.

_'Note to self'_ he thought '_Never leave home without your sword again'_

Naruto heard incoming footsteps and saw Claire running toward them.

"Here" he said tossing her large sword "Looks like the fun begins now."

Claire grabbed the sword and charged the yoma, swinging her sword at the monster, her eyes widened in disbelief as the yoma caught it and punched her aside, reopening her wounds."

_'She to impatient'_ Naruto thought as he blocked an attack which was directed at the downed Claymore.

The yoma extended its fingers and attempted to spear the man who was protecting its prey.

Charging his swords with wind chakra Naruto cleanly cut through the fingers.

The yoma roared with pain as its half of its attack power was cut from its body.

As this was going on Claire was still on the floor.

_'Why am I so weak' _she thought '_A human is fighting better then myself.'_

_'I need more power'_ she mentally shouted.

Naruto stopped his next attack suddenly when he felt a large power strike.

Putting some distance between himself and the yoma he saw the source.

Claire was standing up now, her eyes were a gold color with a slitted pupil and their were bulging veins all over her face.

"You opponent is me" she said "the real yoma hunt begins now."

_'What happened'_ Naruto asked himself _'Thats a lot of demonic energy she's drawing'_

In a burst of speed Claire shot at the yoma and with a single swipe split it in half.

_'I see' _Naruto thought _'The more energy they use the more there physical capabilities are increased. Its much like when I draw upon Kyuubi's chakra.'_

Suddenly Claire fell to here knees.

"Ugh" she grunted.

_'I've used to much power, can't stop'_ she thought_ 'I can't turn back.'_

Picking up he sword she held it at here neck.

"Wait" Naruto shouted "what are you doing."

"If we use to much energy, we can't stop the flow" she said "I intend to end my life."

Suddenly the sword was out of her hand.

"What?" she asked.

"I said I won't let you die" said Naruto from behind her, the claymore in his hand.

"Kill me" she shouted "I am turning into a yoma, let me die as a human"

"I see" Naruto mused out loud "You're a coward" he concluded"

"What" Claire gasped out as more and more veins appeared on her body.

"You said that in order for the monster gain control your human side has to weaken. Your to cowardly to fight back" Naruto explained strongly "I promised that I wouldn't let you die, so you either regain control or turn into a monster."

With a cry and a blast of power the ground exploded around her.

As the dust settled, Claire was still there looking normal.

"The power...receded?" she said.

"Of course" Naruto replied "I knew you could do it."

"Thank you." she said softly "I guess that counts as the favor you owe me."

"Yeah, I suppose" Nauto replied.

The next day they were about to leave the city when they were confronted by Father Vincent.

"We owe you our thanks" he said "While the others are not premitted to speak to you, deep down they they are very grateful."

"It's my job" Claire replied "There is no need for thanks"

"So" Claire said looking at Naruto "I guess this is goodbye then since your debt is paid."

Naruto scoffed and said "You think I'm leaving and miss out on all the adventure." and with those words started walking out the city, missing the small smile on Claire's face as she gazed at his retreating back.

Chapter VI: Meeting The Hunters

Naruto sighed as his katana sliced through a yoma body, he had replaced his attire in favor of the the normal jonin uniform.

_'This is getting a bit repetitive'_ he thought, and indeed it was, they had been fighting yoma for the past couple of weeks.

Looking over at his companion he saw that she too had finished off her opponent.

"Weak, aren't they, only two more left" he remarked. "What should we do with the one that ran away?"

"Let it run" she replied "I sense that some of my comrades are nearby, they can take care of it."

A little girl, no older than ten ran up the hill as a figure chased after it.

**"Hey, Wait for me" **it said **"There is no need to run away is there?"**

The girl gave a screech as a six foot tall demonic looking figure landed in from of her.

As the yoma was preparing to strike, the tip of a sword sprouted from its face and neatly sliced the head in half.

The girl looked up and saw three women in a loose v formation, all carrying huge swords.

"Your from the Toriro village, what happened there" asked the one in the center, who seemed in charge.

"" the girl stuttered "Yoma, five of them."

"Five" the group leader mused "So its not a voracious eater, rather a group of yoma."

"And another Claymore was fighting them" the girl continued.

"What" the leader said "Come on" she said to the others and they sprinted in direction to the city.

"Our orders were for four of us to search the town, is she the fourth" the Claymore to the left asked.

"I think so" the leader replied "Against five yoma she's virtually defenseless, and a voracious eater may be among them, that's why we were suppose to search together." she finished with gritted teeth.

When they arrived in town their eyes widened as the saw a man dismembering the final yoma and one of the comrades pulling her sword out another.

"What the" said the Claymore to the right "A man capable of defeating yoma, I have never seen something like that, he doesn't even look tired."

"A human possessing the ability to slay yoma isn't to unusual." informed the leader her eyes narrowing "However, I have seen cases where humans have defeated yoma. They all came out severely wounded and and extremely tired, some even commit suicide from the experience, yet he hasn't even worked up a sweat. He is not normal." she concluded.

Naruto looked at the group behind them and said "Huh, you were right, your comrades are here."

The leader stepped forward "I see, you took care of these four, however one got away and nearly killed a girl, what do you have to say for yourself?" she said.

"It was heading in your direction, I was confident that you would be able to take care of it." Claire informed.

"You're pretty confident to take on all four" the leader continued ignoring Claire's response "were you looking for glory of something?"

"No" Claire responded "I merely arrived early and decided to proceed."

The Claymore on the left stepped forward and yelled "You ignored orders and proceeded on your own"

Before she could continue the leader interrupted "One could have been a voracious eater what would you have done then?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter" she finished as she turned tail and left "I will report this to the higher ups, they can decide what to do."

The others followed suit and soon they were out of sight.

"Wow" Naruto remarked sarcastically "they were a cheery bunch, I'm glad your not like that."

Later that night Naruto and Claire sat around the fire they had made around the ruins of a city.

'That presence' Naruto thought 'Seems like Rubel is going to be paying us a visit, curious though, normally Claire just meets him somewhere.'

"Why hello there" Said a voice from behind Naruto.

Turning around and seeing Rubel sitting on a pile of ruble Naruto gave a wave and said "Yo"

"You still traveling with her then are you?" he stated "I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to hear this."

_'Hear what?'_ Naruto thought _'Something is going on'_

Before he could respond to this curious action Rubel has already began to address Claire.

"You never change" he said, sounding slightly amused "Always doing things the hard way, what would have happened is one of the yoma had been a voracious eater?"

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly and thought '_What does this have to do with me? Normally he would just meet Claire in the forest .'_

"Or maybe" Rubel continued "you were hoping for that."

"The yoma in the cathedral was normal and just needed plenty of energy to transform from is modified state" he mused "After all voracious eater is just a nickname we tell normal people. It really means an Awakened Being, a Claymore who has gone beyond their limits and turned into a monster."

"Oh" he said surprised as he looked at Naruto "You aren't surprised?"

Naruto rolled his eyes "Of course not, after hearing about those black letters, it was easy to deduce that their must be Claymore who become more powerful yoma."

"Impressive" Rubel replied "to have such reasoning abilities, its very impressive."

"Anyways" he continued on "You would have been torn to shreds if you faced an awakened being."

Claire narrowed her eyes and said "If you are done talking, I wish to get some sleep."

"Alright" he said suddenly "There is a request in a town west of here, it is a confirmed awakened being sighting, I will add you to the hit squad."

"Maybe this will allow you to see the limits of your abilities" he said "If you get into trouble I'm sure you boyfriend will protect you."

Naruto's eye twitched as he heard the last part, but before he could respond Rubel has disappeared again.

"Man" Naruto said frustratingly "That guy is weird."

"It is curious though." Claire said frowning "That he would let you hear one of the Organization's secrets."

"Yeah" said Naruto into the air "He must have thought I would have found out anyway."

_'Still'_ Naruto thought '_There is something odd about it, he seems like a person who would keep information to himself until needed, something is planned.'_

Two days later Naruto and Claire were walked through another city.

Naruto was looking around and noticed the absence of pointing and whispering which usually followed Claire.

_'So'_ he thought to himself _'They are used to seeing Claymore, this must be either an area with a high level of yoma infestation or a base of some sort.'_

As sighted a figure wrapped in black who looked like he was waiting for them.

_'So' _Naruto thought _'These must be the agents of the organization who handle the Claymore, seems like the all wear black as well.'_

"This way" the man said.

He opened a door and beckoned them inside "Your the last one to arrive, now everyone is present."

As the door opened Naruto was able to make out three figures cloaked in shadows.

"Oh, you brought a man with you " said one as she stood up "So, is your boyfriend or something, can he even help us fight."

"He can hold is own in a fight" Claire replied.

"Oh" she said surprised "And here I thought he was just a stray you picked up."

In a flash of movment Clair drew her sword and swung it at the other Claymore who was returning the favor.

Clang!

All four of the Claymore's eyes widened as they took in the sight.

Naruto had drew his sword slightly,crouched to the ground and blocked Claire's attack taking full advantage of the fact that his sword was sheathed across his back, and had gotten the other sword underneath his foot.

The figure in the center narrowed here eyes '_That movement, and strength, its not normal.' _she thought.

"Now, Now" Naruto chided "We are all friends here, no need to fight."

Naruto now found himself with a sword at his neck.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings" said a second voice.

The man in black wrappings sighed and exited the door, "I will leave this up to you, Miria."

The women, now identified as Miria sat with her hands crossed over her legs.

"First your to fast, and now you are slow" she said.

Naruto turned his head and caught sight of her.

_'Hmmm'_ he mused _'She was also in charge of that other group, she must be a powerful member'_

"Helen, Deneve, put away your swords" she commanded.

Once everyone had returned their weapons to their intended holders she continued.

"Since we are all here now, I can brief you on our objective. The target is south of here in the Pamuro mountains, we will leave at down."

"Now" she continues "I want to know everyone's name and rank, and if you have ever fought a voracious eater before."

"I'm Miria" she introduced herself "I am in command of this party, my rank is number 6 and this is my seventh time fighting a voracious eater."

_'So'_ Naruto thought _'The lower the number the higher the rank huh, so that would mean she's the sixth most powerful in the Organization."_

"Why do you call them voracious eaters" Naruto interrupted "I was under the impression they were called awakened beings."

"" said Miria, caught off guard by this surprising question.

She narrowed her eyes at Claire.

"You revealed to him the true origin of awakened beings" she said menacingly "That is forbidden information."

"It wasn't her" Naruto said surprising them all "It was one of those your agents, Rubel was his name."

Miria narrowed her eyes _'Why would one of the Organization's agents tell him such information? It makes no sense.'_

"Anyways" she said, trying to shake off her questions "Continue the introductions."

The one who had started the fight spoke next "I'm Helen, number 22 and I have never fought an awakened being before."

"I'm Deneve" the next one spoke out "Number 15, and I've fought an awakened being twice before."

Naruto, not one to be left out went next "Well I am Naruto, though I'm afraid I don't have a fancy number." he said brightly.

Helen rolled her eyes as everyone stared at Claire.

"I am Claire, have no experience with awakened beings and am number 47."

_'That's a low number'_ thought a slightly disappointed Naruto.

This revelation elected some interesting responses.

Both Helen and Deneve both broke out in gales of laughter.

"Did you hear that?" asked Helen, all the while laughing "I can't believe someone as weak as here would be here."

"Thats enough" Naruto said sharply "If we are going to work together you two should shut up before you find yourself missing limbs."

"You obviously don't know what your talking about." said Helen "Each so called Claymore is assigned a region, each number is gets a certin region and that number determines our strength."

"You see" she continued "there are 47 regions, so out of all of us, she is weakest."

"So" Naruto replied,

"" replied Helen confused.

"You think I didn't determine that when I heard Claire's number, but still we have to work together, there is no need to belittle someone because of some predetermined power scale." he said "That will just lower the groups combat abilities."

"And like I said" Naruto said with a dark look "If you do that again you may find yourselves missing some limbs."

Helen couldn't help but feel a shiver down her spine "Whatever" she said.

Still watching this affair was Miria, and her suspicions about the blond were increasing.

_'He got Helen to back down, that is definitely not normal, I will find out who he is.' _she thought.

Naruto and Claire were in a room they had rented for a night.

"Why did you stand up for me?" she asked.

"I don't know" Naruto said shrugging "I guess its because my parents died when I was an infant, so people would always belittle me, call me a dropout and a failure. Saying I should just go out and die, Now that I can stick up for myself I just can't stand for that kind of behavior."

"I see" Claire trailed off softly. '_You don't seem like such failure to me'_ she silently added _'In fact, the mystery around around you is growing.'_

Splash!

The next day Naruto found himself hiking up a moutain as rain gushed from the sky.

Miria was taking the lead with Helen and Deneve to her right and left respectively and Naruto and Claire trailed slightly behind.

"Wonderful weather" Naruto remarked dryly.

"Heh" Helen scuffed "if you can't handle it maybe you should go back into town and bundle yourself in a nice cozy room."

"Oh no" Naruto said cheerfully "I was merely remarking about the bountiful torrents of water the heavens were providing us."

Everyone rolled their eyes and kept on walking.

"So" Naruto began more seriously "How strong is this awakened being anyway?"

"It killed a warrior if average strength" Miria replied "You don't need to worry, no matter what happens I will be able to handle it."

"A warrior of average strength eh?" Naruto mused, as he turned to Helen "I guess that means someone of you level huh." he said, smirking at her.

Helen narrowed her eyes at him "And what is that suppose to mean?" she asked darkly.

"No need to worry" Naruto said sweetly "After all Miria said she would be able to protect you, and if she can't I'm sure I can spare a couple of seconds to save your butt."

"Why you" she growled out as she reached for her sword.

A hand rested on her arm "Don't bother." Deneve said, still holding her arm.

"And you" she continued turning toward Naruto "provoking someone stronger than you isn't a good idea"

"Stronger than me?" Naruto asked, a grin forming as his hand itched towards his sword "Care to test that theory?"

"Enough" Miria's voice cut them off "If you really want to fight, do it when we set up camp."

"Heh, fine." Naruto said, relaxing.

A couple of hours later they had found a cave.

"We will stay here for the night" Miria said as she and the others sunk their swords into the ground.

"The target is close, so this will be the last opportunity to rest."

"Ah, I'm hungry" remarked Helen "I'll get food, want some?" she asked Deneve who was sitting against a wall.

"No thanks" she replied "I'll just rest."

"What about you" Helen asked Naruto mockingly "Need be to get you something to eat, I hear humans have to eat several times a day, and you haven't eaten yet today, have you?"

"No thanks" said Naruto as he pulled some dried meat out of a vest pocket "Want some" he asked as he offered Helen a piece.

"No" Helen replied sharply "thats all your going to eat?"

"I'm not very hungry." Naruto replied.

_'Plus, all ninja are taught to slow down their metabolism when they are walking in order to conserve energy'_ he added silently

"Fine" Helen replied as she stormed out of the cave.

"Here" Miria's voice rang through the cave.

Naruto turned and saw Claire catch her sword.

"Come with me" Miria said "it won't take long."

As they exited the cave Naruto debated whether or not to follow, shrugging his shoulders, he to got up and followed.

He got out in time to hear Miria address Claire.

"Lets just practice a bit, I need to know everyone's actual level." she informed.

"Are you saying I am inadequate?" Claire asked.

"I'll admit, your rank bothers me." Miria replied "Because when we first met it almost felt like the strongest one was standing before me."

With a quick shout of "Lets go" they charged each other.

The met in a shower of sparks as their blades crossed.

Breaking apart, Claire slashed at Miria's throat, only to have her bend backward to avoid it.

Recovering quickly, Miria stabbed her sword at Claire's head.

Ducking down to avoid the strike, Claire lunged with a slash aimed at Miria's midsection.

Miria back flipped, easily dodging the attack and brought her sword up and block another strike aimed near her head.

While the battle was going on Naruto and Deneve were standing near the entrance of the cave watching.

"Oh Ho" said a voice "They are going at it."

Claire once again swiped at Miria's head, who went into a crouch.

Miria then sliced at Claire head, who blocked by it with the side of her sword.

Left, Right, Up, They traded blows for a couple more minutes, though it was painfully obvious who was the victor.

"She's horrible" Naruto mumbled to himself.

_'It seems she really is the weakest among her comrades, those movements are both slow and weak'_ he thought

"Heh, got that right" replied Helen "She is laughable"

As she finished saying this Claire's sword went flying into the air and landed with a thunk into the air.

"I see" Miria said looked at here "Get some rest, make sure you are at full strength tomorrow." she finished as she walked away.

Breathing hard Claire went to her knees for a second before falling to the ground in unconsciousness.

Sighing Naruto walked out, grabbed her and her sword, and dragged her back into the cave in time to catch the conversation going on.

"Miria" Helen exclaimed "You can't be serious about letting her fight, we should leave without here, and let her boyfriend take care of her."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at this "Hey" he yelled out.

Helen turned to face him "What do you want, human" she said scowling.

Naruto smirked "You promised me a fight, or are you scared."

Helen snarled "Why you. Fine, but don't come crying to be when you get you lose."

"Big words for someone so weak" he taunted as they settled into the same area Miria and Claire had been fighting in earlier.

"He's in for it" said Deneve from the sidelines "No one taunts Helen and leaves unscathed"

"I don't know" replied Miria "There is something about him, he is not normal."

"What" Deneve asked "There is no way he will be able to tough Helen" she said firmly.

"You can attack first" Naruto said lazily, drawing his sword "It's not like your going to do any damage."

Helen had finally reached her breaking point, charging with tremendous speed she swung, intending to slice him in half.

Clang!

Naruto yawned as he held his katana above his head, blocking the blow, "Thats it?" he asked "Feathers have fallen on me with more force than that."

Pulling her sword back Helen tried slashing at Naruto's midsection.

Sparks flew as once again their blades met, Naruto now holding his perpendicular to his body.

"You'll have to do better than that" Naruto said, now smiling "My turn."

With lightning fast moments he kicked up Helen's sword, did a 360 and sliced at her torso.

Helen jumped back trying to avoid the strike, but was only partially successful.

There was now a long shallow cut along here stomach area, nothing major, but would impair her.

_'So fast'_ she thought.

"Damn you" she yelled.

On the sidelines both spectator were watching with wide eyes.

"He hit her" said Deneve in disbelief "No human should be able to so that, I'm number 15 and I could barley track his movements."

_'I knew it'_ thought Miria _'He is not normal, but he's not a yoma or half yoma, so what exactly is he.'_

Suddenly Helen did something surprising, her eyes turned yellow and veins started to appear on here face.

"She's using that" Deneve whispered.

"I won't let you win" Helen said menacingly as her arms lengthened.

_'What the hell'_ Naruto thought '_What is that, she can elongate her arms?'_

Sliding into a defensive stance in the nick of time Naruto jumped up and barely avoided being sliced through, as the arms circled him.

_'I need to end this fast'_ he thought.

Using a burst of speed Naruto appeared behind Helen and held his sword to her neck.

"Stand down now" he ordered.

_'What in the world'_ Helen thought as her yoma energy disappeared _'I didn't see him move.'_

"Good" said Naruto more cheerfully "That was fun, we should do it again sometime."

"Wha" Helen managed to spit out as she saw Naruto walking away into the cave.

"Helen, are you okay" said a frantic Deneve as she checked on her friend.

"Yeah" she replied looking down "I'm fine, but what the hell is he."

Inside the cave Naruto was thinking to himself.

_'Did I show to many abilities'_ he asked himself _'Oh, well, whats done is done and besides, I have a feeling I will have to show more before we are finished with this.'_


	5. The Next King of Games NarutoYugiohGX

**-Naruto the Next King of Games-**

**This was interesting to find, I had thought I lost this story awhile ago. A Naruto/Yu-gi-oh GX x-over, I'm quite a fan of this story too.**

-Chapter I: New Dreams And A New Life-

_'How long as it been'_ thought a figure who was floating in an endless void. '_A year, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand?'_ He asked himself.

The figure looked around fifteen and had blond hair with blue eyes and a set of three whiskers adorning both cheeks.

_'I wonder why I'm choosing to remember my death now' _he wondered _'The great Naruto Uzumaki, captured by the Akatsuki and forced to endure three days of agony as the curse placed on him by a hero is extracted from him. Heh, what a loser, its only because of the Yondaime's secondary seal which caused a backlash of chakra that Akastuki was taken care of.'_ He began to think of all of his friends and people who he considered family '_They were counting on me.' He thought 'And I couldn't do anything. I couldn't avenge Kakashi-sensei, or Jiraya-sensei, it ended up being the Yondaime that saved them all again.'_

As he recalled past events a specter started to form behind him. The being had purple skin, a large mane of while hair and red horn sticking out of his head.

**"Naruto Uzumaki"** it spoke in an ageless voice.

Naruto spun around quickly and came to face the specter.

"Sh-Sh-Shinigami-sama" he said. now scared out of hit wits.

**"Naruto Uzumaki" **the Shinigami said again, **"Your soul has been fully cleansed Kyuubi no Kitsune, you will now receive judgment."**

"Judged?" Naruto asked, a weird look on his face .

**"You are a special case."** the Shinigami elaborated.** "Normally a soul would go to either heaven or hell, but your soul it tied to the Shiki Fuujin, and your future is based directly in my hands. I've have done some pondering and I have to the derision that your soul would be best off being reborn"**

"Really?" Naruto asked, excitedly "I can see my friends again?"

**"Of course not"** the specter said, chuckling **"It has taken about fifteen thousand years for your soul to be fully cleansed."**

"F-Fifteen thousand" Naruto said, eyes wide as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea.

"What about Konoha?" Naruto asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

**"Gone of course"** the Shinigami "**It only lasted about a century after you died, the elemental countries had one final war which ended up destroying the entire civilization." it explained.**

"So why send back" Naruto said angrily "Everyone I care about is dead, why can't I pass on so I can be with them?"

**"What makes you think you will join them if you refuse"** the Shinigami said icily, making it known who was in charge and who had all the power **"If you refuse I may as well just eat you and let you do battle with the Kyuubi's soul for all of eternity."**

"Why even exert the effort to send me back then?" he asked.

**"I guess I feel you need the chance"** the Shinigami admitted **"You got dealt a bad hand, and I feel slightly responsible. Now decide, life or death."**

After a moments thought, Naruto closed his eyes and said "Fine, sent be back then."

**"A wise choice"** the Shingiami agreed, nodding.

Naruto was surrounded by a golden light and the Shinigami began to fade out of existence.

**"By the way"** the Shinigami said as he dispersed **"You're ability to use chakra will disappear"** it finished with an amused look.

"What!" Naruto exclaimed as he was engulfed by the light.

"**Good luck, Naruto Uzumaki**" the Shinigami said **"You will be needed in this new time, the realm of shadows is growing, the world needs a new hero."**

-On Earth-

_'What happened?'_ Naruto asked himself _'I feel so sore.'_

Looking down at himself, he saw that he was wearing a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt with a picture of a floating blob of brown fur with wording under it.

"What the hell is a Kuriboh?" he asked to no one if particular, looking at the ridiculous looking thing on his shirt.

"Huh" he said, feeling something in a side pocket "whats this."

Reaching into the pocket, he pull out a bunch of cards with a brown backgrounds with a black oval on it with a packet on top.

Looking at the front of the packet Naruto said bewildered, "Duel Monsters?"

A hour later and Naruto was still reading the packet, he was entranced by the game. It was straightforward enough,there were three types of cards, Monsters, Spells, and Traps, each had their own advantages and disadvantages. The game relyed on the players to quickly adjust their strategies to even the slightest change of the game, something which Naruto excelled in.

"This looks awesome" he exclaimed as he finished reading the rules. "I've gotta give this a try."

Looking at the first card in the deck, Naruto nearly dropped it in surprise, he was looking into a face he hadn't seen in fifteen thousand years, yet one he vividly remembered like it was yesterday.

The card read (Ice Maiden Haku/3/500/1500/When this card is sent to the graveyard, you take no damage this battle phase)

"What in the world..." Naruto muttered as he looked at the card "How is this possible."

_"Shinigami-sama created that deck"_ said a voice from behind him.

"What the" Naruto said as he quickly whirled around facing the voice.

When Naruto saw the figure, his eyes went wide and arms fell limp to his sides.

There stood Haku just as he remember her, albeit a little transparent, but still the same.

"H-How" He managed to croak out.

_"He imbued my soul into that card" _Haku replied a bit wistfully_ "Shingiami-sama must have taken an interest in you to go to that much trouble,"_

"Does that mean the others" Naruto began only to be interrupted.

"No" Haku replied quickly "That would imbalance the world and cause a disaster."

"So why you?" Naruto blurted out "Not that I mind seeing you again" he added hastily.

_"I'm not sure"_ Haku replied _"He gave me the choice and I agreed."_

"But why" Naruto asked "Why would you want to give up the afterlife to come help me?"

_"Becuase I wanted to"_ Haku replied with vigor _"You said that if we had lived in a different life time we could have been friends, now we have that chance."_

"I see" Naruto said "I never thought I would enjoy a second chance" he finished wistfully.

Several seconds of silence passed between the two before Naruto said something else.

"Wait" he said suddenly "I thought you said you were a boy."

Haku blushed slightly before she responded _"Naruto-kun, deception is part of a shinobi's job, I thought you would have learned that."_

"Errr of course" Naruto said sheepishly "I knew that."

_"Oh"_ Haku said softly _"Times up, Shinigama-sama paused time for you to become acquainted with your situation."_ Tossing him a backpack from who knows where she continued _"That holds everything you should need. Money, keys to an apartment etc." she finished before she shimmered out of existence._

Naruto looked at the card still in his had slightly sadly before pocketing it.

Looking over to a large clock near him, he saw that it was about noon. Peering into the backpack, Naruto caught sight of a set of keys, some cash and another curious object.

Pulling it out, Naruto saw that it was what the instructions packet called a duel disk.

"Wow" he said "This is cool" The main card area of the disk was folded up into two parts for easy carrying. The card area themselves were blue and underneath were most slots. In the middle were the deck and graveyard areas,

"Hey kid" A voice said in the distance.

"Huh" Naruto said, turning around to face newcomer.

"Yeah you" the man, who rough brown hair and looked about twenty, "You a duelist?" he asked.

"Err... I've never played before, but I want to try." Naruto replied.

"Oh" the man replied with a smirk "I'd be willing to duel ya. You do know how to play right?"

"Of course" Naruto said shuffling his deck,inserting it into his duel disk, drawing five cards and turning it on.

"Then lets duel" his opponent said, mirroring his actions. "Since this is your first duel, you can go first."

"Fine" Naruto said as he drew a card, bringing his total to six "My turn"

(Naruto:4000, Opponent:4000)

"I'll start by summoning Konoha's Weapon Mistress attack mode" he announced.

A brown haired girl appeared, her hair was in two buns and she wore a white Chinese style shirt.

(Konoha'a Weapon Mistress/4/1700/1000)

"Then I play two cards face down and end my turn."

"Nice card" his opponent commented "I've never heard anything like that before."

"I play a card in defense mode and play one card face down." he said as he finished his turn.

A card appeared face down and sideways on his field and another one was behind it, though that was facing the right way.

_'Thats it'_ Naruto thought dubiously.

"Fine then" Naruto announced as he drew a card "My move"

"I'll summon Konoha's Taijutsu Expert #1 in attack mode."

A young man with black hair cut in a bowl style and huge eyebrows wearing a green jumpsuit appeared.

(Konoha'a Taijutsu Expert #1/4/1800/0)

"Then I play the spell card "Twin Rising Dragons" which allows my Weapon Mistress to attack twice in a battle phase. Now Weapon Mistress attack the defense monster."

The girl threw several projectile weapons which impacted the defense monster, revealing a Kuriboh

Kuriboh/1/300/200

"Now my Weapon Mistress and Taijutsu Expert #1 direct attack."

Naruto's opponent grunted as he held his arm in front of his face as an imaginary explosion hit him.

Naruto:4000 Opponent:500

_'Damn' _the man thought _'What incredible power, this is his first duel!'_

"I-I forfeit" he stuttered, still shaken up from the attack "There is nothing in my deck that can take care of that.

"Err...Okay" Naruto said, bewildered _'Why did he give up' _he thought.

_'You totally annihilated him Naruto_' came the response from inside his head.

_'Is that you Haku'_ Naruto replied.

_'Of course it is'_ Haku replied with a sweat drop _'who else would it be.'_

_'You never know' _Naruto defended _'So what do you mean? He still had life points.'_

_'He is probably just some confident beginner_' Haku explained _'He saw that you were new to the game and thought that he would win.'_

_'I guess' _Naruto thought back_ 'I still wish he would have stuck it out though. Giving up is lame.'_

When he came out of his conversation he caught sight of his opponent practically running away from him.

"Err.. Good game" he called at his retreating back.

As he looked around, Naruto saw that he had attracted quite the crowd.

"Ummm. Hi" he said nervously, waving slightly at the people watching the duel.

"Young man" a voice in the crowd said.

Naruto looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man who looked slightly older than middle aged walked out of the crowd and approach him.

He had balding hair and was wearing a maroon blazer.

"That was a remarkable duel, do you intend to enroll in duel academy?" he asked.

"Duel Academy?" Naruto asked, not knowing what the man was talking about.

"You don't know?" the man asked curiously. Seeing Naruto shake his head he explained "Duel Academy is a school where aspiring duelists learn all they need to know about the game. Along with that, Duel Academy also boasts some of the best non dueling schooling in the world."

"Errr...well I don't know" Naruto replied with a shrug "I'm an orphan and really don't have much money so..."

"Nonsense" the man replied "Enrollment is completely free, Duel Monsters is run completely off of donations and funding by KibaCorp. Testing to get into the school is still open if you want to give it a shot." he explained.

_'You have nothing better to do' _Haku reminded him in the back of his head.

"Sure, why not." Naruto said shrug "How do I get there?" he asked.

"I'm actually on my way there" the man explained "I don't mind giving you a ride."

"Okay" Naruto said, enthusiastically. "I'm Naruto by the way Naruto Uzumaki."

"I am Chancellor Sheppard, in charge of the daily operation of Duel Academy." he introduced himself.

_'I guess this isn't so bad' _Naruto thought as he followed Sheppard to his car and got into the front seat _'I might like this second chance, no one to judge be because of a demon fox. Naruto Uzumaki, King of Games, it has a nice ring to it.'_

Chapter II: Making The Grade

'Wow' Naruto thought as he caught sight of the building in front of him. It looked positively futuristic, the building was domed and while and dwarfed the surrounding buildings.

"Welcome to Duel Academy" Sheppard said, stepping out of his car and motioning towards the imposing and impressive structure in front of him.

"Impressive" Naruto said, slightly in awe.

"Indeed" Sheppard agreed "This is isn't the actually academy, rather a building owned by KibaCorp which is used for testing" he informed.

"I see" Naruto said "What exactly is in the test?" he asked slightly nervously.

"Oh nothing major" Sheppard assured "mainly you are given a situation and you need to work your way through it." he explained.

"Oh" Naruto replied 'Damn' he thought 'I've always been bad at paper tests'

'Don't worry Naruto-kun" said Haku from his head 'I'm sure you will do fine,'

"Well come on then" Sheppard said, breaking Naruto out of his trance. "I will take you to the exam area."

Naruto began following the man, growing steadily more nervous after each step.

'Shinigami-sama obviously wanted be to become a duelist' he thought 'Why else would he send me back with a dueling deck.'

"Here we are" Sheppard said, as they arrived at a door. Opening it they steeped into a large room with several rows of seats which descended into a area where a instructor sat.

The instructor was wearing a blue uniform and had blond hair in a ponytail, all in all it was hard to tell if the person was male of female.

"Professor Crowler" Shepperd greeted interrupting the man who was giving the students in the room instructions on the test.

"Chancellor Sheppard" Crowler replied in a drawling voice, "How nice to see you."

"Yes well I have a new applicant for you, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Sheppard informed.

"Yes, well take a seat young man" Crowler said, looking annoyed at being interrupted.

"Yes sir" Naaruto said as he quickly went into an empty seat.

"Now where was I?" Crowler asked himself "Ahh yes, this is part one of the exam, you must pass this part to advance to the next level, which is a practical exam." he explained. "Now" he began looking at a sheet of paper he was holding ", please come forward and hand out the test please."

"Yes sir." said a boy with black hair neatly styled to a point in the back of his head who got up immediately and walked briskly to the front. Grabing the stack of papers offered to him he walked to each of the occupied desks and place one test on each.

"Now" Crowler began "You have one hour to finish, any unanswered questions will be marked as wrong, BEGIN."

As soon as he said begin Naruto tore the cover page off his test and read the first questions.

"You opponent has 2500 life points, a Kuriboh in his hand and a Gadget Soldier on the field in attack mode. You have 2000 life points, a Amazoness Chain Master and a Cannon Soldier on the field in attack mode and multiply face down. How do you win in one turn?"

Underneath the questions it gave the stats of all the cards in the question.

'Thats easy' Naruto thought as he wrote down his answer. 'Are all of these questions this easy?' he asked himself.

'Lets not forget that through the constant use of Kage Bunshin you have a photographic memory' Haku added dryly. 'After all, you were able to memorize all of the rules in the book in about an hour and this sort of thinking is your strength anyway'

'I guess' Naruto thought back as he continued to answer the questions at a rapid page 'Everyone always said I was a great battlefield strategist.'

Twenty minutes later, Naruto had finished answering the last question "Name all types of spell cards." He raised his hand and waited until the man named Crowler walked over.

"Yes what is it young man" he asked, slightly sneering "Do you need help understanding a test of this caliber?"

"Ummm..No" Naruto replied, oblivious that his intelligence was just insulted, Naruto will be Naruto after all "I'm done" he replied simply.

"What" Crowler questioned in disbelief "How could you finish in under half an hour?"

"Errr..talent" Naruto replied, unsure how to react to this strange, gender confused person.

"Yes, Yes, I'm sure" Crowler muttered under his breath "Anyway, go ahead through the door over there" he said, pointing to a door on the other side of the room. "There is a waiting area there where you will wait while the tests are graded." he informed.

"Okay" Naruto replied as he got up from his seat and walked towards and through the door,

The room was nice enough, there were several sofas and a television on the wall with a remote on a coffee table. The ways were in a cool light gray which look modern and clean.

Plopping himself onto a sofa he gave a large sigh 'That went better than I thought it would.' he mentally noted.

Reaching over, he grabbed the remote, turned the t.v. on and flipped to a news station.

'Might as well get to know something about this world.' he thought to himself. 'maybe I won't seem totally insane when I talk to someone.'

About ten minutes in Naruto hadn't learned a whole lot, aside from slight differences in culture and technology, there wasn't a huge difference between the two societies.

The door opened with a slight squeak and the the brown haired boy who had handed out the test stepped in.

"Why hello there" he greeted with a strange accent Naruto couldn't identify. (British for those who are wondering)

"Hello" Naruto replied, turning to face the boy "Misawa right?" he asked.

"Yes, I am Bastion" the boy replied "And yourself?"

"Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto replied offering his hand.

"Naruto Uzumaki" Bastion muttered, taking the offered hand and giving it a firm shake "Nice to meet you."

A couple of seconds of silence passed between the two before Naruto spoke.

"So, what did you think of the test" Naruto asked, attempting to spark up conversation.

"Oh, it was quite easy really" Bastion replied "Of course, I wanted to go over it several times to make sure I had correctly answered everything, but I was surprised at the simplicity of a test to enter such a prestigious academic establishment."

'You have no clue what he just said, don't you?" Haku asked in a deadpanned voice in Naruto's head.

'He thought the test was easy and he thought a place as famous as Duel Academy would be harder to get into' Naruto thought back, triumphantly.

'You mean you actually understood that?' Haku asked, astonished.

'Hey' Naruto shot back acting insulted 'I resent that. Fifteen thousand years with nothing to do will either sharpen the brain or turn it to mush'

"Hello" said Bastion's voice, breaking him out of his mental argument.

"Err..Sorry" Naruto said, sheepishly "what did you say?"

"I asked what your opinion of the test was" Bastion replied levelly.

"Piece of cake" Naruto replied with a confident smirk "It was pretty common sense stuff."

"Agreed" Bastion relied nodding "they must eliminate most of the applicants in the practical test" he concluded.

"Yeah" Naruto replied "after all, books smarts don't matter much if you can't duel"

"True, True" Bastion agreed "What would you call your dueling strategy?" he asked.

"Looking for intel eh?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Err. Well..." Bastion replied a bit flustered "I was merely curious" he finished lamely.

"I don't mind" Naruto replied, easing his companions discomfort "My deck revolves around the use of my monster cards which are supplemented by my spells traps" he informed. "Yours?" he asked back.

"I really don't have a set style" Bastion informed "I use several deck which all have their own unique strengths and weaknesses."

"Multiple Decks?" Naruto thought out loud.

"Yes" Bastion replied "It gives me more variety, and if I happen to somehow lose a deck, I always have another."

"I see" Naruto said aloud, whist thinking 'An interesting idea indeed'

'He'll never get a strong connection with his deck' Haku replied sadly from his mind. "he only sees them as tools, nothing more."

'Not everyone is as lucky as me though.' Naruto replied 'I know the very people my cards were based off of, their like, dislikes and dreams. How could I not have a strong connection to my deck. Hell, even their holographic personalities are accurate.'

'True' Haku said, conceding the point 'But having a strong connection to your deck is very important, duel monster is more than it seems' she finished seriously.

'Wha..' Naruto started, only to be interrupted by a voice which rang out in the room.

"The allocated time has expired, all applicants return to the testing room" came Crowler's voice via speaker in the corner of the room.

"That was fast" Naruto said aloud, still mulling over Haku's previous words. "How come no one else is in here?"

"They must not have finished." Bastion concluded with a small frown.

"Ohh well, no time to dwell on others" Naruto muttered as he led the way out of the room and into the main test chamber.

A couple of minutes later, everyone was sitting at their desks and looking at a large screen in front of them which had just dropped down.

"Now students settle down" said the gender confused professor "the test results are pending, and will be displayed shortly, keep in mind that most you of slackers will not pass, better luck next year" he said in a condescending way "You'll need it" he muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Ahh here we are" Crowler said as a bunch of names appeared on the screen.

"Ohh my" me said in shock as he looked at the top two names.

In a weak voice Crowler turned to the class and said "Congratulations to Bastion Misawa, and Naruto Uzumaki for getting the first even written exam perfect score."

_Silence was his response. _

Chapter III: Making The Grade P2

A couple of weeks after the dueling test, we find Naruto sleeping peacefully.

-BEEP- -BEEP-

At least, until his alarm clock went off.

"GAH" Naruto screamed as he jumped out of bed and fell to the floor, tangled in his sheets.

Naruto groaned as he tried to untangle himself from the pile of sheets he found himself in.

_'Why did I set my alarm again?'_ He asked drowsily himself.

'Because you need to wake up' Came Haku's amused reply. 'The dueling portion of the exam is today, remember?" she asked.

_'Of course I remember'_ Naruto replied indignantly _"I'm not THAT stupid ya know."_

Naruto's eye began to twitch as he heard Haku's chuckles fading deeper into his mind.

_'I swear'_ he thought grumpily _'Some times, she is worse than the fox'_

With a large sigh, Naruto finally managed to release himself from his tangled up mess and made his way to the bathroom, muttering about annoying spirits all the way.

Twenty minutes later, a fully clothed Naruto emerged, refreshed and ready for the day.

He was wearing a pair of light brown cargo pants with a plain black tee shirt and ordinary tennis shoes.

_'I really do need some new clothes'_ he thought, scowling at his attire _'These are so bland.'_

"That feels better" he said to himself refreshed, looking around his humble abode.

The apartment was small, consisting of a bedroom, bathroom and a combined kitchen living room area, but it was nice none the less. It was a place he could call his own.

Pouring himself a glass of milk and a bowl of cereal, Naruto began to slowly eat, his mind wondering, thinking about his future.

_'Today is the day huh'_ he mused, as he took a bite of his dry cereal, who was disgusting enough to put milk in cereal anyways?

During the couple of weeks since the written portion of the dueling exam, Naruto had explored the new world he found himself in and amazingly, found many things relatively unchanged since his time, confirming his suspicion that the world had undergone a huge regression when the world of ninja collapsed. This was good for him, less stuff to learn could only be a good thing right?

_'Though who would think humanity would resort to a card game to solve all of their problems?'_ he mused dryly _'Kinda sad if you think about it. Reminiscing? Gosh I feel old now'_

Quickly finishing up his breakfast Naruto glanced at the clock hanging above his refrigerator.

After checking the time, he grabbed his backpack which help his duel disk, tapped his pocket to make sure he had his deck and headed out the door heading out into an unknown future.

Settling into a steady jog, Naruto headed towards the large domed building where his future would be decided.

_'At least I regained my physical fitness'_ he thought as he cruised along _'I may not be able to augment my body with chakra anymore, but I can still move at a decent speed.'_

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of a person right in front of him. Stumbling as he tried to get out of the way he only managed to trip over his feet and roll right into the person, knocking him over.

_'Though' _he mentally added groaning_ 'after such a long time in the void, my reaction time still leaves a bit to be desired.'_

"I am really sorry" Naruto said standing up and offering a hand to the unfortunate bystander, his other hand scratching the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Its alright young man" said the stranger dismissively as he took the offered hand.

As he stood up, Naruto used the opportunity to take a better look.

He was about his height, maybe a little taller with spiky blond hair with tri colored highlights at the tip of the spikes.

Looking towards the ground, Naruto cried in dismay as he saw his cards scattered on the ground.

"Gah" He yelled as he quickly went to the ground and picked up all of his cards before the blew away.

"So you are a duelist" the man mused as he saw Naruto quickly picking up his cards and ensuring they were not damaged.

"Yup" Naruto replied with gusto as he gathered his last card and carefully inspected it "I am on my way to the final duel academy test."

"I see," the man replied with a slight chuckle "Do you think you will pass?" he asked, curiously.

"Of course" Naruto yelled in enthusiasm "There is no way I can fail" he exclaimed with a large grin.

The man gave another chuckle, "I'm sure you won't" he said "I have a feeling we will meet each other again in the future" he trailed off mysteriously, as he faded into the crowd.

_'Okay' _Naruto thought as he say the man walking away_ 'That was weird'_

As the man exited his sight Naruto noticed a shimmer of a very familiar energy _'That was Chakra!' _he exclaimed to himself.

_'Where did it come from'_ he though excitingly as he swiveled his head around looking for the source.

In Naruto's head, Haku had a bit of a dilemma on her hand.

_'Damn' _she thought, frantically thinking _'he wasn't suppose to discover chakra yet, to encounter one who as been touched by a millennium item was not suppose to happen this early.'_

"What do you mean Naruto-kun" she asked "I didn't sense anything"

_"I KNOW that was chakra"_ Naruto replied, still looking around _"what else could it be, and who was that man, he seemed familiar."_

"I don't know" Haku replied, trying to sound convincing "But you better hurry or you might be late."

"SHOOT" Naruto said as he took off toward the Duel Academy building, "How could I forget"

Inside of his mind, Haku gave a sign of relief and patted herself on the back as Naruto seemed to forget about sensing chakra.

_'That was close' _Haku thought to herself _'Even though that man was no longer in contact with a millennium item, his spirit was so strong it stored some of its power.'_

Oblivious to his duel spirits plight, Naruto continued on towards the familiar domed building off in the distance.

-(Later)-

Naruto was watching various duelists show their stuff as he sat on the bleachers which surrounded the numerous duel areas in the large room and was not impressed.

_'They suck' _he though dryly as he say the duels_ 'even those duel simulations I've been doing are better than the proctors, and the applicants are actually losing.'_

Naruto saw a bright blue haired kid get barley scrape through as a voice rang out through a speaker system.

"Will Bastion Misawa please enter duel arena two please" the voice rang out.

Hearing the name mentioned, Naruto looked around and caught sight of a head of brown hair that was recognizable.

"Hey Bastion" Naruto call out to the brown haired figure as he descended the stair to go to his duel.

The boy wirled around to face him and gave a nod of his head as he called back "Hello Naruto, glad you made it."

Naruto smirked in return "You better not lose" he called back.

Bastion raised an eyebrow at him "You better worry about yourself, because I do not intend to lose"

Naruto chuckled softly as he saw his confident friend enter into the duel arena.

_'He is in good spirits' _he thought to himself _'Its not surprising though, this is a great atmosphere' _he thought as he looked around at the packed stadium type atmosphere with cheering students everywhere.

_'Thogugh I wonder why there are so many different colors of uniforms' _he pondered

Naruto watched the duel ahead with a critical eye and was not to impressed by the proctor.

_'Sure Bastion is good'_ he thought '_But these proctors must be taking things really easy on us applicants.'_

_'Not bad'_ Naruto thought as he saw Bastion use destruction ring on his Vorce Raider, winning the duel. _'A little to self damaging for my taste, but a decent strategy considering the situation.'_

"Will Naruto Uzumaki please enter duel area three please" the monotone voice rang out again.

"Alright" he cheered "Finally I am up"

As he descended down into the area he caught Bastion's eye, who was going in the opposite direction, and gave a smirk and a nod of the head in congratulations.

Strapping on his duel disk and entering his deck into its slot, Naruto's hands were shaking in anticipation.

Looking across from him Naruto saw his proctor, a man who looked a couple years his senior and wearing a dark blue overcoat.

"Are you ready applicant?" the proctor asked in a somewhat bored voice.

"Of course" Naruto said as the tension grew.

Both duelist drew five cards out of their decks and yelled "DUEL"

Naruto:4000 LP

Proctor:4000 LP

"I'll go first" the procter said as he drew a card. "First I'll summon my Marauding Captain 3/1200/400 in attack mode, then using his special effect, I will summon another Marauding Captain 3/1200/400 to the field. Then I'll play one card face down and end my turn" he informed, finished his turn.

"Not bad" Naruto remarked, eying the two monsters in front of him as he drew a card "My draw"

With a small smirk in his face Naruto made his move.

"First I will summon Konoha's Weapon Mistress 4/1700/1000 in attack mode, then I will equip her with Twin Rising Dragons, which allows her to attack twice in the same battle phase. Now, Konoha's Weapon Mistress, attack both Marauding Captains."

With a battle cry, the brown haired girl tossed hordes of sharp weapons at both of the Marauding Captains and an Explosion of dust show their demise.

Naruto:4000 LP

Proctor:3000 LP

"Then I will finish by playing one card face down." Naruto said, eyes challenging his opponent to make his move.

"Very good" the proctor said nodding as he drew his card.

"First I will active my face down card, Premature Burial, which allows me to bring back a monster from my graveyard for a mere 800 life points and I choose my Marauding Capitan"

Naruto:4000 LP

Proctor:2200 LP

"Next I summon my Goblin Attack Force 4/2300/0 in attack mode" he said with a vicious smirk. "Now Goblin Attack Force, attack that Weapon's Mistress."

An explosion marked the end Naruto's monster as the holographic projection shattered.

Naruto:3600 LP

Proctor:2200 LP

"I'm not done" the Proctor yelled "Now Marauding Captain, attack him directly."

"I don't think so" Naruto yelled as he waved his hand towards his face down, "I active my trap, Kawarimi which switches your attack target, back at your Goblins"

An explosion occurred and as the dust cleared only the Goblins stood with no Marauding Captain in sight.

Naruto:3600 LP

Proctor:1100 LP

"My Goblins special effect activates" the proctor informed, gritting his teeth slightly "After the battle phase, they switch to defense mode."

"I guess it's my move then huh?" Naruto mused as he drew his card.

His eye lit up when he saw the card "I summon Konoha's Taijutsu Expert #1 4/1800/0" he said "Then I activate his special effect, which allows me sacrifice him in order to special summon Konoha's Taijutsu Expert #2 7/2800/1600 in attack mode" he exclaimed. "Now Konoha's Taijutsu Expert #2 attack those Goblins and end this duel"

A larger version of Konoha's Taijutsu Expert #1 appeared wearing the green spandex and sporting huge eyebrows as he made a pose and started his attack.

"End this duel?" the proctor questioned with a raised eyebrow "In case you haven't noticed my Goblins are in defense mode."

"Konoha's Taijutsu Expert #2 has a special effect" Naruto informed with a smirk "If it attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference in the attack points and your monsters defense points is deducted from you life points."

"But that would mean..." the proctor trailed off as he saw his Goblins being attacked by the bizarre looking monster.

"You lose" Naruto said, finishing the sentence.

Naruto:3600 LP

Procter:0 LP.

"Congratulations" The proctor informed after shaking off the shock of losing so terribly. "Welcome to duel academy."

"Thank you" Naruto said with a large smile and a small bow.

_'Finally made it'_ Naruto thought, as he thought about his future _'It seems that things are starting to look up. The light is pushing back the darkness.'_

_Oh how wrong he was._


	6. Naruto The Phantom Menace NarutoSW

**-Naruto: The Phantom Menace-**

A Naruto/SW x-over here. This was a story I got really psyched about writing. I know I'll finished it someday because I just love the idea for it, it has such potential. I discontinued it because I didn't know enough about Starwars. When I (eventually) finish with my current stories, this will most likely be next on the list.

-Chapter I: Arrival in a Galaxy Far, Far, Away-

Thirteen year old, Leaf Village ninja Naruto Uzumaki was pulling his hair as he screamed at the heavens, cursing the gods for his misfortune.

Over the year he had been gone on his training trip, Naruto had matured greatly. He now sported an outfit much more befitting of a ninja, a black shirt, black pants which housed numerous pockets and a pair of standard ninja sandals (description sucks I know, so sue me, you get the idea).

The first couple of weeks had been interesting to say the least. Jiraiya the toad sannin, and self proclaimed super pervert had wanted to teach him to better harness the Kyuubi's chakra and Naruto was vehemently against it.

It took two weeks of constant arguing for Jiraiya to finally conceded and agreed to teach Naruto some more conventional ninja arts, and it had paid off greatly.

"Why isn't this working?" he screamed as he stared at the large scroll which was filled with strange symbols and markings.

"Why don't you take a break Naruto." said an older man with a long mane of white hair and red markings on his face in an amused voice, He was the great toad sage, Jiraiya of the Sannin.

"I just don't get why the seal array isn't working" Naruto replied, whining slightly.

Jiraiya gave a sigh as he gazed upon his apprentice, while he was proud of his work ethic and his astounding potential in the sealing arts, he was frustrated with the boys stubbornness.

"Space time justu aren't easy, even for me" Jiraiya admitted, "why don't you go work on those ninjutsu scrolls I gave you."

"I already have" Naruto replied absentmindedly stroking his chin "They were really easy, I really want to finish this."

"E-Easy" Jiraiya spluttered, "those are my personal jutsu, no way you could have mastered them in a week, prove it!"

"Fine" Naruto said, closing his scroll and placing it in a pocket, rolling his eyes, and muttering about annoying old men.

"Hari Jizou" Naruto intoned as he made a single ram seal.

At those words his vibrant yellow hard elongated and hardened, completely covering him in a protective shell.

"Ranji Shigumi" Naruto said again from inside his shell.

Hair exploded out and engulfed a tree, spikes then shoot inward and the tree collapsed with numerous holes inside of it.

"Kebari Senbon" Naruto then yelled with a look of slight concentration on his face, thousands of needles of hair shot out, taking out several trees as they punctured the heavy wood.

_'Amazing' _Jiraiya thought with eyes wide in disbelief as saw his apprentice preform his own personal jutsu with nearly as much proficiency as himself. _'He mastered those jutsu in so short of time, when he actually gets instruction, he is a prodigy.'_

"Hmmm" Jiraiya said, poking at the hair in the tree and pretending to inspect it, no need to inflate the boys ego any more than it already was "Not to bad" he remarked.

"Right..." Naruto trailed off, rolling his eyes, he knew that he preformed the jutsu perfectly "Can I go back to my seal array please?" he asked.

"No" Jiraiys replied annoyed "Have you finished those sword stances yet?" he asked.

_'This brat grates on the nerves'_ he thought with more than a little annoyance _'one little break, that's all I'm asking him to take. He is playing with fire and he is not the most careful person in the world'_

"Yes" Naruto replied, slightly irritated "Would you like to see those as well?"

"If you don't mind" Jiraiya replied with a smile.

Reaching into his pocket Naruto picked up a very familiar brown object.

The Raijin was a sword once wielded by the Second Hokage which led the Leaf to victory during the Second Ninja War.

About a decade ago, the sword was stolen by a Leaf Village missing-nin by the name of Aoi. Aoi fled to the Hidden Rain Village, and became a jounin in their ranks.

Just over a year ago, a squad of Leaf Village Ninja met Aoi in battle. He was defeated and the blade was believed to be broken.

When the sword was returned to the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju, the grand niece of the Second Hokage, she delivered the news that the blade was not broken and the true nature of the blade was revealed.

Using an extremely complex seal array and a crystal like that which hung around his neck, but yellow, the sword was able to solidify chakra, forming a powerful energy weapon capable of defeating all others.

Not even Jiraiya, for foremost seal expert in the Leaf could make heads or tails of the seals, and the blade was thought to be stored away, a relic of a glorious past now obsolete.

Then, months later, after the defection of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki departed the Leaf Village on a training trip.

Before he left, Tsunade entrusted the blade to him, the sword was a weapon to be wielded by a worthy warrior, not a relic sitting on a shelf collection dust.

Then, with the blessing of the Fifth Hokage, bearing the necklace of the First Hokage and the sword Second Hokage, Naruto departed, the legacy of the Senju clan.

Flowing some chakra through the sword, it ignited and showed why it was called the sword of lightning.

As the energy arched across the blade, Naruto moved in a graceful and flowing manner with a ease which made it look like he had be doing it his entire life.

_'Incredible' _Jiraiya thought, _'While he is still hopeless in Genjutsu, and his Taijutsu looks like some sort of drunken dance, his ability to learn Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu and Fuinjutsu is outstanding. In a couple years, he should be able to handle himself from Akatsuki. While his Fuinjutsu talent has to be from Minato, his Ninjutsu style and Kenjutsu skill is just like Kushina.'_

"Not bad Naruto" Jiraiya said with a smile "You are a bit stiff in a couple of places, but well done, especially since the Leaf Village isn't known for their kenjutsu prowess."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he heard he mentor talk about his prowess which he already knew, "Thanks, can I finally go back to my seal array?" he asked.

Jiraiya let out a sigh, closed his eyes and pinched the bride of his nose.

"Fine" he said, "I'm going into town" he finished with a small giggle as a blush started to form on his face.

Naruto gave a sigh as he saw the self proclaimed super pervert vanish in a swirl of leaves and reopened his scroll.

While the training trip had be productive, Naruto felt that something was missing in his life.

He had all but given up on Sasuke, the time alone has allowed him to reflect on everything that had happened in his life and he discovered one thing.

His life sucked.

His so called best friend had tried to kill him even though he had held back, he former crush never even acknowledged his existence until she needed him and his sensei, the man who was suppose to teach him, played favorites and he was forgotten.

While his time with Jiraiya has been fun, and by no doubt eventful and productive, Naruto felt empty.

On one side he faced Akatsuki and Orochimaru and the other he faced the scorn of the village.

"Lets see" Naruto muttered as he re-opened his scroll and looked upon it with a slight frown.

_'Maybe a distance modulation seal will help stabilize the quantum fluctuations and maintain the temporal flux' _he thought, eyes glinting as he pondered of this new idea.

Unsealing a brush and some ink from a storage seal in his arm, Naruto began making the adjustments to his array.

_'Yes...' _he thought as the brush flowed over the paper, _'this will work, I can feel it.'_

As he finished the last line of the seal, it began to glow a brilliant while color and radiate pure power.

"This can't be good" Naruto said, trying to back away, but he found himself pinned to the ground. "I didn't flow any chakra into it, what is happening" he asked to himself.

Suddenly the entire area was engulfed in a brilliant light and all Naruto knew wad blackness as he vanished from the Elemental countries.

"Hey Naruto, I forgot my... Naruto?" Jiraiya frantically looked around and caught no sight of the blond. Spying something laying on the ground me picked it look and examined up.

"Oh Naruto" Jiraiya groaned in despair. "What have you done"

In his hands was a scroll, and the seal master immediately recognized the seals, space. time, and dimension seals all mixed in with some other clutter which was slowly pulsing.

_'There are infinite dimensions' _Jiraiya thought with downcast eyes _'He could be in anyone of them, and that combined with the space and time seals, he could be anywhere at anytime. I thought he was trying to create a technique akin to that of Hiraishin, nothing like this.'_

"Tsunade is going to kill me" he groaned in horror as he thought of the Fifth's reaction. Giving a resigned sigh, me turned towards the Leaf Village and began the long march back. Sure he could have made it their faster, but he had to clear his head.

_'I know you were never truly happy Naruto' _Jiraiya thought as he gazed at the sky with a sad expression, legs going into automatic, dragging him along. _'I failed as your godfather, I failed as your teacher, I failed your father, and your mother. I failed Sarutobi-sensei and I've lost the final legacy of the Senju clan. The only thing I can hope, is that you'll be happy where ever you land, god knows you deserve it'_ as he was in his train of thought, the sky darkened and rain began to fall. The heavens were crying, the world had lost its champion.

- In a Galaxy Far Far Away -

"Uggg" Naruto groaned as he found himself on a bed in a white, sterile looking room filled with strange looking machines.

_'This can't be good'_ he thought, unable to move his extremities. _'Something tells me I'm not anywhere near where I was'_

"I see you are awake sir" a mechanical voice rang out, scaring the wits off Naruto.

Turning around, Naruto caught sight of the most bizarre thing he had ever seen.

The figure was vaguely humanoid, but its "arms" had all sorts of strange tools attach to them.

"Wha-What are you?" Naruto managed to spit out as he caught sight of the thing.

Before the strange machine could answer, a set of doors, which Naruto didn't notice were there, slid opened and a regal, elegant looking girl, about Naruto's age stepped in with an group of girls about her age wearing simple cloaks and a large group of what looked like security guards.

"2-1B Deactivate" the girl said in a soft, yet commanding voice.

Turning to face him, Naruto noticed that her face was white with make up with a red streak on her bottom lip which make her look even more beautiful than she did before. Even though it appeared she wanted to look cold and imposing, Naruto couldn't help be get a sense of warmth and comfort from the girl.

"My name is Amidala, Queen of the Naboo. I would be interested to hear how managed to appear in the Palace of Theed." she asked in a polite, but firm voice.

_'Ahhh Damn'_ Naruto thought as he realized the implications that sentence revealed, _'I'm screwed'_

–

Chapter II: Revelations

Naruto laid on his back on a grassy hill on the outskirts of Theed watching the clouds move slowly across the sky.

It had been a six months since his arrival at this strange new world, a hard, confusing six months.

Looking to his right, he saw the figure of a girl around his age, who was fairly average looking wearing ordinary, Naboo style clothing.

Nobody would imagine that the regal, elegant, and intimidating queen would look like this, she appeared to be just a carefree teen.

The queen, whose name he discovered was Padme, had helped him a lot during his stay, arranging people to teach him about the new world he found himself in and in turn he would fascinate her about stories from his home and some of the abilities he had decided to show.

They had grown quite close, Padme seemed to find him fascinating at first, but they soon became closer than one would consider normal especially considering his arrival, after Naruto got over the fact the she was a queen at least.

At first Padme was disgusted by Naruto's world with all the violence, but as time went on, it helped her understand human nature and become less ignorant of the outside world. This view allowed her to grow up in a way which would have not been possible in Naboo's peaceful and controlled world.

Naruto on the other hand, found the new world he was in to be fascinating. There were over a million planets in what was called the Galactic Republic. Naboo itself was only a very minor world in the grand scope of things. The technology was also so much more advanced, it took months for Naruto to grasp the concept, luckily for him he was a quick learner and soon became adequate in his knowledge.

The most interesting thing though, was the tangible energy everywhere Naruto went. In the air, the ground, the plants and people themselves, it was everywhere. While not receiving a lot of training in the field, Jiraiya had still showed him a bit of an art called Senjutsu, or Sage techniques.

It was suppose to be incredibly difficult, an art which few could learn, let alone master. The gathering of nature chakra was said to be incredibly difficult for even the best. In this world however, even Naruto, with his limited amount on knowledge was able to gather a small amount of this energy to augment his abilities slightly.

"The sky is beautiful, isn't it?" Padme suddenly said rolling over to look at him.

"Yeah" Naruto said, "Back in the elemental countries, a friend of mine would spend hours gazing at the clouds."

After the first couple of months, Naruto had began to call his home the Elemental Countries. He found himself becoming more and more at ease with this new world and quite frankly, he preferred it to the Leaf Village.

The people of Naboo, who at first were wary with his close friendship with the queen and his sudden appearance from nowhere (they were told it was via a spacial anomaly), became to enjoy his shining spirit and iron resolve and soon began to ardor him nearly as much as the queen. It was such a change from the scorn he had previous received that he was a bit unnerved at first.

"I can see why" Padme replied softly "Its nice to leave the duty of the queen for a couple hours, to forget about more stressful things in life, even for a short time."

Pulling herself closer to Naruto so that they were almost nose to nose, Padme gazed at his face with a slight blush on her face.

"One could almost lose themselves out here." she finished in a whisper.

"Milady" a female voice rang out, completely ruining the mood "Governor Bibble requests your presence, he says it is urgent."

The young women was dressed in nondescript clothing much like Padme in order to remain inconspicuous. She was one the the queen's handmaidens, and one of the few to have knowledge of the fact that Padme would often leave her duties to relax with in the company of the intriguing foreigner.

Padme sighed as she heard the news, while she loved the duties of the queen and the people of Naboo, sometimes it grated on the nerves.

"Alright Sabe" she said getting up "contact Rabe and Eirtae, tell them to begin wardrobe preparations."

"I already have Milady" Sabe replied with a bow "Also" she began unsure how to word the next sentence "Governor Bibble said that Naruto would be welcome to join if he wishes"

At hearing this declaration, Padme's eyes opened wide. While not against the law, the Naboo royalty were generaly discouraged to seek relationships or even companionship, seeing as it normally interfered with duty.

"I...how?" Padme muttered a range of emotions flashing through he face, embarrassment, anger before settling on confusion.

"He said that 'Even an old man like me can see the obvious'" Sabe replied with a small smile.

This explanation was not entirely entirely true, Sabe had helped push Bibble in the right direction and convinced him that spending time with the strange young man helped benefit the queen. With all the hard work she gave for the people, Sabe felt that the queen deserved some happiness, and as a handmaiden, it was her duty to ensure the queen's protection and happiness.

"Very well" Padme replied, setting herself into the cold mask which was reserved for the duties of the queen. "I assume you have arranged transport?" she asked, though it was more like a statement.

"Yes Milady" Sabe replied with a bow, "this way please"

-(Later)-

Naruto sat off to the side as Padme, no, queen Amidala sat in the throne on inside the place of Theed wearing her usual garb.

The throne room was huge and totally worth of all the important meeting which were held there. It was all stone done in the typical elegant Naboo style. Behind the large desk which was used by the queen was a huge window which gave a breathtaking view of the city below.

Governor Bibble, an older man with slightly receding hair, sat in front of her and looked worried.

"Milad" Bibble began, eyes slightly downcast "I bring terrible news from Coruscant."

"What is it governor?" Amidala asked in a concise voice which rang out through the large stone throne room.

"It's senator Palpatine Milady" Bibble said, sorrow evident in his voice "His ship crashed into the lower levels of Coruscant, his body was found a short while later."

"The senator...is dead?" Amidala asked in shock "H-Has their been an explanation about the cause of the crash."

"The Jedi Order has began their investigation, but there is no word yet" Bibbie said, shaking his head.

"What do you suggest I do?" Amidala asked softly, turning around and looking out the window directly behind her.

"A new senator must be elected" Bibble said firmly, "Naboo's voice in the galactic senate must not be compromised."

"I agree" Amidala said, her brows furrowed slightly "I presume you will make all necessary arrangements."

"Of course Milady" Bibble replied with a bow "Whom shall I place on the ballet?"

"I will leave that for you to decide" Amidala replied "I trust you can handle the task."

"Yes Milady" Bibble said with a bow as he rose from his chair "To the best of my ability" he finished as he gave one last bow and exited the room, leaving the queen and Naruto alone.

"This is terrible" Padme said when she was sure Bibble had left.

Rubbing her eyebrows absentmindedly, she pondered the situation.

It was times like this that she was grateful for the blond which dropped in their lap.

Though he didn't know it, he had taught her so much and even though he could be a block head at times, he was a natural born leader. He brought forth an almost world weary prospective which would be indicative of his world. He had the uncanny ability to make people believe in him. He also allowed her, as much as she hated it, to deal with the idea of death in a better way.

"What do you think I should do, Naruto?" she asked, looking over to the blond who had been unnaturally silent and was wearing a thoughtful frown.

"This Paplatine, he was popular right?" Naruto asked, though he thought he knew the answer.

"Yes" Amidala replied "He helped bring the end to King Veruna's reign, he was quite popular with the people."

"King Veruna" Naruto muttered, "He was the one who started to build up military forces isn't he?"

"Correct" Amidala replied "We of the Naboo do not believe in violence, the police force is a voluntary position, and King Veruna was making us more and more exposed to the outside worlds."

"How long do you think the elections will take?" Naruto asked, mind racing as he thought of various scenarios. Despite how he may have looked back in the Leaf VIllage, he actually had a firm grasp on politics, he wanted to be Hokage after all and they had to deal with scheming politicians all the time.

"A few weeks at the very least" Amidala replied quickly, she too in deep contemplation "the senator represents the entire Chommell Sector, its a job with a lot of responsibility and it will take a while for the people to vote and to get the logistics straightened out."

"The people will not like so easily replacing Paplatine" Naruto muttered, more to himself than anyone else "It is vital for Naboo to have a presence at the investigation."

"What are you suggesting?" Amidala replied, overhearing his mutterings.

"The people of Naboo need the assurance that the investigation is being taken seriously" Naruto began, thinking his idea through "And Naboo needs to make sure its voice is heard by the senate." Here Naruto paused as he pondered whether or not to say the next thing.

"And..." Amidala began, urging him to continue with a slight nod of her head.

_"It is my suggestion" Naruto said, his voice growing in confidence "That you should leave for Coruscant."_

-Chapter III: Breaking Mainstream-

"You want to do WHAT" a voice rang out through the large throne room of the Theed.

"You heard me Captain Panaka" Amidala replied, once again in her cold mask of the queen.

"But Milady are you sure this is the correct course of action?" Panaka argued, obviously not agreeing with the situation. "At the very least, bring myself and a security detail with you."

"Your presence is needed here Captain" Amidala replied, growing impatient "And remember your place" she added coldly.

"O-Of course Milady" Panaka replied with a bow "I was just concerned with your safety." he added.

"The senate will provide ample security" Amidala replied, feeling a bit sorry for the man "and the jedi have promised protection as well, plus Naruto will be going with. You need not worry"

"Your taking him" Panaka blurted out without thinking "why?"

"He is a trusted adviser" Amidala replied quickly, cheeks blushing slightly, not that you could see it through her make up "and, if you are worried about my safety, you should be pleased that he is coming with, I believe you have...sparred with him before."

Panaka winced slightly as he remember that err...incident.

-R2, activate flashback projector-

Naruto had been in Naboo for about two months and was just beginning to fathom this strange (and admittedly awesome) world he found himself in.

Of course instead of touring the beautiful Naboo city of the Theed, he was standing in front the the head of the security force.

Naruto gave a sigh and thought to himself _'Why am I doing this again...ahhh right, the queen wanted to __see some of my abilities.'_

"Now" the dark skinned man said, "I will only be using a training blaster, if you wish to surrender, merely say so."

"Yes Sir" Naruto replied with a none to little dose of sarcasm.

With a simple squeeze of the trigger Panaka sent a couple red, low level plasma bolts towards the foreigner.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he saw them _'Fast' _he thought as he quickly jumped over them with outstanding grace and dexterity.

As soon as he landed, he say a dozen or so more bolds coming at him.

_'Wait'_ he thought, a devilish plan coming to mind as he remembered the lessons he had been taking _'plasma bolts can only be contained through an electromagnetic field, and another plasma weapon can repel them since there will be an opposing electromagnetic field.'_

Reading into his pocket he pulled out his sword, sending some chakra into the blade he neatly deflected all the bolts.

_'I was right'_ he thought with a victorious grin _'Since lightning is nothing more than high energy plasma, it has the ability to deflect blaster bolts.'_

Deactivating his blade, and noticing Panaka's gaping expression, he sent some chakra to his legs and gave him a nice, hard punch to the head, knocking him out.

-End Flashback-

"I...Remember" Panaka mumbled, embarrassed "Just please stay safe, we cannot afford to lose you too."

"I will" Amidala replied a small smile appearing on her face.

"Milady" another voice cut in "All the preparations are complete"

"Good" Amidala said, at little enthusiasm bleeding into her voice "You are sure you can handle Naboo in the mean time, Governor?" she added, already knowing the answer

"Of course Milady" Governor Bibble replied, "The council and I are prepared and ready"

"I wish you luck" Amidala said, "I will depart then" she finished, leaving Governor Bibble alone to deal with an entire planet.

-In Hyperspace-

"It's nice to get out of that gown" Padme said as she looked down at her simple, yet elegant traveling dress.

She was sitting in the throne "room" in the royal Naboo starship along with her favorite companion, not that she would admit it.

Since only Sabe, Rabe, Eirtae, and Naruto were with her, she was able to finally get out of the monstrosities that were forced upon here, stupid hundreds of years of tradition.

"They do look a tad unwieldy" Naruto replied, amusedly.

"You enjoy seeing me struggle don't you" Padme hissed at him, though there was only a playful note to it.

"Of course" Naruto said, chuckling "Its it quite entertaining to see you try to walk in the things" he finished, a twinkle in his eye.

"Hmph" Padme huffed, annoyed "Thats not very nice you know." she finished pouting.

Naruto just stuck his tongue out in response.

"So, what do you plan on doing once we arrive at Coruscant" Naruto inquired as several seconds of uncomfortable silence passed between them. Being so close for hours had made them a bit embarrassed around each other, Padme'e handmaidens had somehow vanished for the entire journey, leaving them alone.

"I shall meet with the Jedi council and inquire on the progress of the investigation, the next senate meeting isn't for a couple days, so I have time to prepare" she replied.

"Hmmm...the Jedi" Naruto trailed off "If I recall right, they are some interesting people aren't they?"

"Yes" Padme replied, smiling slightly at the blonds ease of which he spoke of such people, but then again, if she had abilities like the blond, she wouldn't see them as anything special either. "They serve as the police force of the galaxy, they are peace keepers, diplomats, and warriors all rolled up into one. They live a minimalistic lifestyle of life to serve the republic."

"Interesting" Naruto replied "But aren't they an organization separate of the senate?"

"They are" Padme said, nodding "But they are highly interwoven with the government as well, they have existed for thousands of years and are known and feared in every reach of the galaxy."

"Milady" The voice of the pilot, Ric Olie echoed through the chamber "We will arrive at Coruscant in two hours, Sabe requests your presence in your quarters for final preparations."

"It seems you have to get ready" Naruto said in a jovial voice, hearing Padme groan in despair.

"But I hate those things" she groaned.

"Now Now" Naruto chided, waving his right index finger back and forth "Do you want to ruin thousands of years of traditions?"

Padme glared at him as she reluctantly got out of her seat, "You can be vindictive when you want to be" she said at the grinning blond.

"You know you love me" Naruto replied with a big smile.

As soon as those words left his mouth, Padme froze "Err.. Y-yeah" she replied leaving the chamber in a hurry.

"What got into her" Naruto said to no one in particular, as he found himself alone in the large chamber.

"Ahhh well" he said shrugging "she must just be nervous, I know I would"

Deciding a quick nap was just what he needed, Naruto too left the chamber and headed to his room, which he had to admit, were very luxurious.

-(Two hours later)-

Naruto had just woken up, taken a shower and changed into a pair of the clothes which had been packed for him, apparently since he was going to be alongside the queen, he needed fitting attire.

He wore a deep, royal blue outer garment with the traditional Naboo style neck piece and wrist cuffs with intricate silver styling all throughout it. Underneath he wore a armored vest, similar to those worn by jounin back in his world, but you couldn't see it. He wore a simple, but well put together black pants with a comfortable and practical pair of boots.

_'Not bad' _He thought to himself as he looked in the mirror, '_I could do without the overcoat, but at least the rest if fairly practical'_

He looked pretty good as well, if he could say so himself, the deep blue of the garment brought out the lighter shade of blue of his eyes.

"Well, this should be fun" he murmured.

Now, Naruto was never one for nerves, but he was about to embark into a world where hundreds of different species lives, it would definitely be an eye opening experience.

"" Olie's voice rang out through his room "We are landing in Coruscant, her Highness Queen Amidala requests your presence at the unloading chamber."

"Well" Naruto said, running hand through his hair "show time"

As Naruto entered the so called "unloading chamber" he caught sight of Padme, err...Amidala along with here three handmaidens.

Amidala was wearing a flowing black gown with intricate gold inlay, which reached down below her feet, which symbolized the feeling of mourning, or thats what he thought anyways.

Her Handmaiden's, Sabe, Rabe, and Eirtae were all wearing deep maroon cloaks which large hoods, a perfect complement to the queens attire.

"Well don't you look sporting" he remarked as he entered the room, amusement running into his voice as he said Amidala clench her jaw slightly at his words. "Are those peacock feathers" he asked, referring to the large feathers which adorned her head piece.

"Yes" Amidala replied, in agitation, though she could feel her face heat up slightly as she caught sight of him, and for the first time, she was happy she wore so much makeup. "You look nice as well" she remarked.

"I do don't I?" Naruto said, looking himself over in an over exaggerated manner "Though I don't see the point of these cuffs" he added, fidgeting with them.

"Its thousands of years of traditions" Amidala reminded him sweetly "and you wouldn't want to do against tradition would you?"

"Of course not" Naruto retorted, deciding to play her game "After all, tradition is what make a culture stand out, and what drives us to a new and better future while staying in tune with the past." he finished, fake pride in his voice.

"Of course" Amidala replied, with more than a little sarcasm "how eloquent of you."

While this banter went back and forth, Sabe smiled, face hidden under her cloak , she knew leaving those two alone for the entire journey was a good idea. She had rarely seen the queen as content as she was right now.

"We have landed, docking doors are opening" Olie's voice rang out, as a ramp lowered, and natural light flooded the chamber.

As Naruto and Amidala heard this, they schooled their features into natural expressions. Joking around in private, or as close to private as they got, was one thing, but they knew they were both going to be in for the test of their lives.

Amidala, with Naruto to her left, and her handmaidens behind her descended off the ramp and towards a person surrounded by his own security force.

"Queen Amidala" a said a man who was wearing an ornate dark blue robe over a black tunic and pants. "I am Chancellor Valorum of the Galactic Senate, I welcome you to Coruscant and offer you condolences, Senator Palpatine was a great man" he finished with a slight bow of respect.

"Thank you chancellor" Amidala replied with a slight incline of her head in return "It am eager to see the progress of the investigation, this is a terrible tragedy for my people."

"Yes" The chancellor began in a sober tone "He was loved by everyone, a better and more honest man, you'll never find."

"Yes" Amidala replied, in a lower tone "Star ships don't just crash for no reason, especially one belonging to a high level official, I wish to see the ones responsible punished." she finished, almost hissing the last part.

"Of Course" Valorum replied a little scared, who would have thought the young queen would be this vicious. "The Jedi council has informed me that they would like to meet with yourself to discuss the investigation."

"A prudent idea" Amidala replied, nodding "The next senate meeting will be in 70 hours, correct?" she inquired.

"Yes" Valorum replied, "Now..for security..." he began.

"I merely need an escort" Amidala quickly responded "I am unfamiliar with Coruscant, and could do with a guide."

"O-Of course" Valorum replied, looking a little flustered "The Jedi have agreed to send a team to guard you and show you around the city."

"That will do" Amidala said after a couple seconds of contemplation "When are they to arrive?"

"Right now, Milady" spoke up another voice as two figures came into view.

Naruto, who had been watching this conversation closely, looked out and saw the two men.

The older of the two looked a little over middle aged with a slightly balding head.

The younger looked around twenty or so, and Naruto noticed both wore simple, nearly identical outfits of a rough looking tunic with a dark brown robe.

"Greeting Milady" The older of the two and obviously the leader said as he stepped forward and gave a large bow. "I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon-Jinn, and this is my padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi" he said.

Hearing his name mentioned, the younger man stepped forward and he too gave a large bow and said "It is a a pleasure to meet you Milady"

"I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo" she introduced herself, though it was fairly unnecessary "My handmaidens, Sabe, Rabe and Eirtae, and my adviser and confidant Naruto Uzumaki."

"I have been instructed to escort you to the Temple first" the man, Qui-Gon said with another bow.

"I see" Amidala said, relieved to finally get going, though only Naruto could see it in her eyes "Chancellor" she said, turning towards him and giving a slight bow "I appreciate your help, I will see you at the next senate meeting."

"Of course" Valorum replied with a smile, "Ir was a pleasure meeting you, Milady, Master Jedi" he finished, bowing to both parties, before he retreated from platform and entered his ship which took off.

"This way" Qui-Gon said, gesturing towards a similar ship "The transport will take up to the Jedi Temple, it shall only take a couple of moments."

As they took there seats, with Amidala, her handmaidens, and Naruto on once side with the Jedi opposite them, Naruto took the time to study them.

Frankly, they didn't seem like the legends he had briefly read about back on Naboo. He wasn't really getting the vibe of great warrior the the two, but then again, looks could be deceiving.

"I must admit" Qui-Gon said, beginning the conversation "There was quite a stir in the Temple when the communication came in stating the queen was personally arriving at Coruscant to oversee the investigation"

"Senator Palatine was resident of Naboo" Amidala reminded him "He was a national figure and endeared by everyone, I will not abandon his fate after death to those I know nothing of."

"I see your wisdom" Qui-Gon conceded as the cabin fell into an uneasy silence.

As he heard this, Naruto couldn't help but silently applaud Amidala, she had handled that scrutiny excellently.

"Sir" the voice of what Naruto would only assume was the pilot echoed throughout the cabin after five minutes of travel, in which Naruto found himself marveling at the giant city planet "We are entering the Jedi Temple"

"Understood" Qui-Gon said as he smoothed out his robes as Naruto felt the transport descend. "Brace yourself" he warned as Naruto felt the transport activate the anti-grav brakes.

"Please Follow us to the council chambers" Qui-Gon said, getting out of the transport "We were instructed to bring you there with all haste" he added before they all set off at a brisk pace.

-(In the council chambers)-

NOW, Naruto, found himself a bit intimidated, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had left, and he found the twelve Jedi council members to be pretty intimidating.

"Queen Amidala" a green being the about three feet tall and had more winkles and Naruto had ever seen spoke out "Arrived safely you have, warms my heart it does."

"Thank you Master Yoda" Amidala replied "Not that I mind it, but I must admit I am curious, why was there so much haste we arrive here quickly.

"Hmmm, miss nothing you do" Yoda remarked, looking slightly downcast "Found disturbing things our investigation has, like to know we thought you would."

"Disturbing things?" Amidala questioned "What?"

"Do you trust the company you are in" another man who had darker skin and a bald head asked rather bluntly.

"Of course" Amidala replied, with a bit of venom in her voice "I trust each and everyone with my life"

"No harm did Master Windu intend" Yoda said, trying to calm the situation down.

"Inside a statue in the senators quarters an interesting object we found" Yoda said, gravely.

"An object?" Amidala inquired, "What kind of object could get you worried?"

"A lightsaber we found"Yoda said almost growling at the end "A dark lord of the the Sith, we suspect senator Palatine was."

–

-Chapter IV: Shocking Truths-

"WHAT" Amidala said, losing her composure as she heard this shocking news. "H=How is that possible?" she asked, bewildered, of all the revelations she was expecting this was not it.

"A grave matter, it is" Yoda agreed, looking all of his 800 years as he pondered the severity of the matter. "The force, clearer it is now, not so clouded by the dark side.

"Who are the Sith?" Naruto piped in, looking confused. Truthfully, the entire conversation up to this point had been over his head. Most of the time spend on Naboo had been focused on bringing him up to speed and comfortable with the unfamiliar technology. History and foreign culture were still fairly new to him.

As he said this, the eyes of twelve Jedi Masters turned to face him, giving him piercing looks.

"Err.. never mind?" he muttered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. _'Damn they're creepy_' he thought dryly.

Yoda hummed slightly as his attention was diverted to the blond human standing beside the queen like an equal, which was most peculiar. _'Strong in the force he is' _he thought himself hearing the Force speak to him '_Most curious'_.

"The Sith, thought to have died two thousand years ago they have" Yoda said, focusing more on this blond that had peaked his interest. "Started a terrible war thousands years ago they did. Consumed by the dark side, they are, hate, rage, and suffering, bring, they do. A terrible cult, wrought death and destruction they do."

"Has this information been told to anybody" Amidala asked apprehensively, this is not what she needed. She had thought it would be easy, find the people responsible for the death of the senator, and punished them, then represent Naboo until the next senator was elected. This however, was something which could cause civil war.

"No" Yoda replied, shaking his head and giving the young queen an intense stare as he tried to figure out what she was feeling, "information, harmful it would be to the Naboo, correct? Under obligation to reveal information to the senate, we are not"

"Yes" Amidala replied with a frown and she fully realized the implications of what could happen, "This could destabilize Naboo's position in the senate and cause undo suffering for my people."

"A secret, it will be" Yoda finalized with a nod, surprising the rest of the council, while they technically were able to keep information from the senate, it was frowned upon. "Cause undo suffering, the revelation would."

"Could their be another Sith?" Naruto said speaking up again, stroking his chin "I would find it hard to believe that he would allow his art, his religion to die with him." he concluded, thinking of some of the deranged cults back in his world and shuddering slightly.

"Hmmm" Yoda hummed, diverting his attention to the young man again and taking notice of his attire "Adviser to the queen you are" he noted with a nod, hey being over 800 years old was good for something "Much insight you possess. Yes, since long ago a rule of two was established, the Sith always have a master, and an apprentice they do."

"Then I guess the question is" Naruto said, letting his bangs hang in front of his eyes, giving him a mysterious look "Was that the master, or the apprentice?" he finished finished ominously, flaring a small amount of chakra, causing a slight wind to travel through the chamber.

Yoda chuckled slightly as he tried to shake the slight felling of uncertainty which accompanied the boys words. "Most mysterious you are, young man, Wise beyond your years, are you, young Naruto."

"How do you know my name?" Naruto asked in surprise and more than a small amount of suspicion. This Jedi Master had more knowledge on him and he did on on the Jedi, it was not a feeling which Naruto enjoyed.

"Relayed it was, from master Qui-Gon Jinn " Yoda replied with a small grin, noticing the boys surprise, though he mentally frowned at the thinly guarded suspicion the boy held "The Force, strong it is, but tells us names, it does not."

"Heh, I suppose not" Naruto replied with a alight chuckle trying to alleviate his felling of unease, this frog, thing kinda reminded him of the old Third Hokage back home.

"Have you discovered anything else" Amidala asked, cutting back into the conversation, while she did believe the Jedi, the fact still remained, someone had murdered the Naboo senator. It was her duty to the people of Naboo to see justice served for her people.

"Suspect the organization known as the Trade Federation we do" Yoda said firmly through half lidded eyes, "However, enough evidence to prove we have not." he finished with a small amount of suspicion.

"The Trade Federation?" Amidala questioned, surprised "why would they have anything to do with it?" They were merely a merchant group after all, why murder such a high key official?

"We believe they are planning something" the dark skinned man, Windu informed with a frown "The Neimoidian are cowards, to make a move like this, it's something big."

"I see" Amidala said, rubbing the bridge of her nose, this was a lot to take in and way more than she bargained for.

"Rest, you should" Yoda said gently, taking notice of the young queen plight "much to take in, it is, wait in the hall perhaps while brief Master Qui-Gon we do?"

"Of course Master Yoda" Amidala said with a slightly strained smile and a slight bow as she and her handmaidens twirled around, Naruto lagging slightly behind as he gave one last look at the twelve, powerful and mysterious council members.

-(Outside the Council Chambers)-

"So what do you think?" Naruto asked seriously as they found themselves just outside the doors as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were called back in. "Do you trust there judgment? Are you willing to except what they said about the senator?"

"I am" Amidala said in sadness, "Truthfully, I didn't know the senator very well, Naboo is quite far from Coruscant as you experienced from travel, and the journey is not one which is made often."

"It is rather disturbing though, isn't it?" Naruto pondered "From the vibes I was getting, these Sith were some bad news, to think a public figure like Palpatine could be one...It makes you think."

"It does" Amidala said, looking lost and like the young age she really was "What should I do? Should I tell the people of Naboo? Shall I take the secret to the grave?"

"Telling the people would bring nothing good" Naruto said, though his eyes had a far away look to them as he remembered some past experience, "People need heroes, those they can look up to, to destroy that image, it would be horrible."

"A tragic accident" Amidala said in a somber voice, "That is what we are lowered to, a pitiful excuse to those who know the truth."

"Aye" Naruto agreed "But its a necessary half truth , for the good of Naboo." he justified

"Yes" Amidala said, slight wistfully "For the good of Naboo."

"There is something else thought" Naruto trailed off with narrowed eyes "I can sense it, those Jedi are hiding something, something big, which involves us."

-In the council chambers-

"Masters" Qui-Gon said as he entered the council chambers with a deep bow to the assembled Jedi Masters "What are my orders?" he asked, ruder then would be considered polite.

"Impatient you are, Master Qui-Gon" replied Yoda with a small chuckle as he looked at the middle aged Jedi Master with an unreadable face "Important assignment, you and have padawan have." he informed, still giving Qui-Gon his piercing look.

"Could I assume it has to do with the queen from Naboo" Qui-Gon asked with a raised eyebrow, not showing the council the respect normally shown to them by Jedi Knights.

"Yes" responded Mace Windu with a nod, frowning at the Jedi's obvious lack of respect "We believe that she is in danger, the Trade Federation may try something while she is vulnerable and out in the open"

"Have you told her?" Qui-Gon asked bewildered "If she is in danger, shouldn't she know?"

"So young, the queen is." Yoda said sadly as he thought back to the young, brave, overwhelmed, and frankly if he could say so, scared queen. "Need more trouble, she does not. Speculation, the threat is"

"Also" Windu piped in, frowning slightly as he too thought back to the previous conversation, but he was focusing on a different person "We need you to observe her advisor. Something is...off about him"

"The Blond one?" Qui-Gon asked in surprise, he had met the young man and it didn't appear to be anything amiss "Is he a danger?" he asked, bewildered.

"Vibrant he is, in the force" Yoda said humming slightly in thought, trying to reach out to the Force. "An unknown he is, missed by the Jedi Order for training he was."

"A force sensitive?" Qui-Gon asked in surprise. While of course it was possible a force sensitive was missed, it didn't happen very often, and if what Yoda said was correct, which it undoubtedly was, he was quite powerful.

"Clouded, he is" Yoda growling lowly, brows furrowed as he became frustrated "Future, uncertain it is, watch him you must." he finished, pointing two of his fingers outward at the master padawan pair to enforce the point.

"Of course Master Yoda" Qui-Gon replied, recognizing the dismissal for what it was. He turned around and exited the chambers, Obi-Wan closely following behind looking as confused as Qui-Gon felt.

-With Amidala and Naruto-

Both Naruto and Amidala looked up when the heard the sound of doors opening. Looking backwards, they caught sight of the pair of Jedi which had led them to the council in the first place.

"Milady" The older of the two, Qui-Gon said with a VERY deep bow, Naruto almost wanted to laugh with how stupid it looked "If you with, we can escort you to your hotel."

"Very Well" Amidala said with a straight face, but Naruto, who had gotten surprisingly good at reading her, could tell she too was suppressing a laugh at the terribly deep bow.

Straighting up, Qui-Gon took the lead as he led them through the Temple. "So" he began, unsure how to address the young queen "What do you think of Coruscant?" he asked, kicking himself afterward for asking such a stupid question. He was the one who has rushed them through before they could see much of the city after all.

"Far different from back home" Amidala said with a small sigh, remembering the wonderful grassy plains of Naboo, the while sandy beaches, which she enjoyed to relax on. She had been meaning to take Naruto to one, but had not gotten the chance yet.

Naruto could see the Amidala showing signs of homesickness, and grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze, discreetly of course. He had known the feeling just a few short months ago, and she had helped him through it, he could only return the favor.

Amidala relaxed slightly feeling the touch, for some reason she always felt so much calmer when Naruto grasped her hand, though the thoughts of her home kept her mind busy

"I imagine" Qui-Gon replied, not noticing the exchanged going on beside him, "Coruscant, can be overwhelming to those who have never been here before."

"I bet" Naruto cut in, seeing the queen had a far away look in her eye, thinking about something else "There are so many people here."

"Yes" Qui-Gon said as they exited the Temple and got into the same transport which brought them there "Coruscant is strong in the living Force, with so many people living here." he finished looking out a window of the transport and seeing the towering buildings, he could almost small the force in the air.

"You know" Naruto said, dubiously "I've been hearing a lot about this mysterious "Force" and frankly, I doubt it can do all you claim it to."

"You don't believe in the force?" the younger of the two Jedi, Obi-Wan or something said in surprise. To him, seeing someone who didn't believe in something as basic as the force. It was incomprehensible.

"You boast super human insight" Naruto deadpanned, but was careful to say his words in a manner which wouldn't seem TO rude "To some, that might be considered magic."

Qui-Gon chuckled as he heard this "Jedi powers have been called magic by many people, but the Force is what drives all of our powers, it surrounds us and protects us." he finished with passion clearly evident in his voice.

_'It seems more like a drug to me' _Naruto thought with a frown as he heard the passion in the man's voice _'I NEVER want to have that stuff run through me'_ the thought with a shiver, _'I might go shouting about the Flames of Youth, or something.'_

"I'm...sure" Naruto trailed off, luckily, neither Qui-Gon, nor Obi-Wan noticed his freaked out expression.

"Master Jedi" the voice of the pilot echoed through the cabin, which Naruto noticed was the same as the last trip "We are arriving at the destination, landing in aproximently thirty seconds."

"Thank you pilot" Qui-Gon replied, tapping a button on the wall, which Naruto assumed was some kind of intercom system. "You will be given an apartment at the 500 Rebublica for the duration of your stay, the Chancellor thought they would be the safest and most continent. This transport will be available for your use at anytime, and either myself or my padawan will be available for any duty you desire." he informed informed as the descended into the tall, ornate looking building.

"Thank you Master Jedi" Amidala replied warily "It had been a long day, I am sure everyone wants to just get some rest."

It had indeed been a long day. The sun had completely set by now, and the trip from Naboo had taken a couple days as it was. Plus the disturbing news, Naruto was surprise Amidala was still awake.

"I imagine" Qui-Gon as he led them out of the transport and they were able to fully see the 500 Rebublica.

Immense would be understating it, the thing was HUGE, well over 3000 feet high, it towered into the sky.

"Wow.." Naruto said with a whistle as he looked at the building "Damn, it would stink to fall from the top wouldn't it?" he said, mostly to himself.

"Indeed it would" Qui-Gon said with a brief chuckle "Its over 1000 stories tall, its one of the crowning jewels of Coruscant. Now right this way." he said as he led them towards the entrance and as they entered he steered them into an elevator like contraption.

"Each executive suite has their own turbolift" Qui-Gon informed as they entered a large, elaborate turbolife. Now Naboo had little in the way of tall buildings, so this was an experience not only for Naruto, but Amidala and her handmaiden's as well.

"The lift as been keyed in to allow only a select few people into it." he continued as the life ground to a halt and the doors opened. "As you can see, as we exit the lift, we come to a hallway with a set of doors at the end and another smaller door off to the side, "only you will have the key card, so your privacy is assured. If you need more, myself and Obi-Wan here will be in the side room should you need anything." Qui-Gon finished with a bow as he let the queen and company enter the apartment.

As they entered the room, Naruto couldn't help but whistle in appreciation. There was a large room which had a deck and a couple couches surrounding it. A small, awuare dining table was off to the side with four chairs around it. Letting his legs leading him around he found there were actually three rooms and and two bathrooms of decent size. "This is a pretty nice place." he said, meeting the others back in the main room who had also taking a look around.

"Sabe will bunk with me" Amidala said once she had thought the sleeping arangments out "Rabe, and Eirtae, you two will share the second room, and Naruto can take the third." she finished, nodding to herself.

"That works" Naruto agreed, "And if there is noting else to say, I'm going to bed." With that said, Naruto turned headed towards a room.

"I think we all should" Amidala said, looking at the retreating back of the blond, "Tomorrow we can see more of the city."

-Elsewhere-

"Master" Obi-Wan said as he and Qui-Gon got themselves situated in the room off to the side of the queen apartment. The room was spartan to say the least, and a couple cots were all that were really in there. "Is what the council said true?" he asked, looking confused, he had been unnaturally silent the whole day mulling over the words.

"I don't know" Qui-Gon confessed "The queen and those around her have a clouded future, and an important one ahead of them. But Obi-Wan" he said, looking at his padawan "be mindful of the living force, live in the now, not the future." he warned.

"I know master" Obi-Wan said, his head bowed slightly "But I have a bad feeling about this."

–


End file.
